Oak Tree and the Branch, The

Nicholas Haggers Collected Poemscontained 30 volumes of his poems, and Life Cycle and Other New Poemscontained volumes 3134. Together they reflect his quest along the Mystic Way, and the vision of unity and harmony to which it led. The Oak Tree and the Branchcontains volumes 3541 and continues his presentation of apparent conflicts (Brexit, coronavirus, war and extreme suffering) and the underlying unity of the universe within his Arcadia. The Oak Tree and the Branchsees the UKs departure from Europe as a lopped branch from the Tree of Tradition of European civilisation. The Tapestrydwells on his rootedness in the past, especially in the Tudor time. A Plague in Arcadia: Oneness with Nature and the Universepresents a host of Nature poems in his local Fairmeads Arcadian paradise during the spread of coronavirus, the Covid plague. An Oval Cloudpresents a sequence of encounters with an oval cloud seen behind his closed eyes, which he tries to understand. Court Poems: More Royal Classical Odesincludes Royal events: a wedding, two funerals and a coronation, and another lopped branch. In Arcady: A Gong and Padded Sticksurveys his Providential life. And the harrowing Agony in Arcady: Strokewrings from him the whole range of emotions as he comes to terms with his daughters severe stroke (another lopped branch) and heroic endurance. Haggers mystical vision of the unity of Nature, the universe and humankind shines through all these new poems. Hagger derives his inspiration from the 16th- and 17th-century Metaphysical poets and seeks to unite the later Augustan and Romantic traditions. These poems reconcile the souls harmony with the universe and the conflicts in public life, and add significantly to the themes of Collected Poems, Classical Odes, Life Cycleand Haggers two poetic epics, Overlordand Armageddon, all published by O-Books. They carry forward his Universalist approach to poetry which unveils an ordered universe behind the apparent chaos of world events