for alice

when looking for gifts, i always visit cecil court, a wonderfully atmospheric alley of victorian bookshops, specialising in antiquarian books.   step into the lovely marchpane book shop, which is filled from floor to ceiling with beautiful old copies of children’s books.  you can spend anything from £10 to thousands, you have to just decide what you want to pay, and then see what you like.  i chose a 1961 copy of alice in wonderland for my daughter alice to add to her collection.    i could have spent hours in there – the graphics and design of some of  the books were so inspirational.  so for the perfect and original gift for the person  take a trip to cecil court.

for alice my beautiful daughter whose birthday it is today

Her face so fair first bent mine eye	Her tongue so sweet then drew mine ear	Her wit so sharp then hit my heart
Mine eye to like her face doth lead	Mine ear to learn her tongue doth teach	My Heart to love het wit doth move
Her face with beams doth blind mine eye	Her tongue with sounds doth charm mine ear	Her wit with art doth knit my heart
Mine eye with life her face doth feed	Mine ear with hope her tongue doth feast	My heart with skill her wit doth fill
O face with frowns wrong not mine eye	O tongue with cheeks vex not mine ear	O wit with smart wound not my heart
This eye shall joy her face to serve	This ear shall yield her tongue to trust	This heart shall swear her wit to fear.

taken from Sir Arthur Gorges in the Penguin’s Poems for Love, selected by Laura Barber