A Peculiar Parish Edition by George Meredith & J.G. Folivéli
16 pages, with silver foil Green Man logo on the cover and black-and-white illustrations throughout

He rises and begins to round,
He drops the silver chain of sound . . .

So begins “The Lark Ascending,” George Meredith’s triumphal ode to the skylark’s song, the bucolic English countryside, and the restless strength of the human spirit. Over the course of 122 breathless, shimmering lines, the poem traces the soaring arc of the dawn bird’s flight. Those whose eyes follow its aerial path feel their hearts rise with it, ever higher.

Written in 1881, Meredith’s poem takes inspiration from Shelley’s “Ode to a Skylark” and in turn inspired Ralph Vaughan Williams’ violin masterpiece of 1921. One century on, our Peculiar Parish Edition is offered in humble commemoration of the “silver chain” of influence wrought by the best of the arts.