Former art teacher writes poetry anthology as ode to life of rhyme

A FORMER art teacher has published a book of poems.

A Life in Rhyme by Arline Dace will be launched at Henley Rugby Club on Wednesday.

She has chosen to donate all sale profits to Sue Ryder, the palliative care charity, in gratitude for the care several of her close friends received at the former hospice in Nettlebed.

The book features 17 poems, most of which Arline, who is blind and has lost much of her hearing, can recite by heart.

She was helped to put the book together by friends Marcel Wagner and Sue Webb and it also features some of her artwork, including sketches of Henley she did in the Seventies.

Now 98, Arline lives at Abbeycrest Nursing Home in Sonning Common, but she spent many years living in Henley and working as an art teacher at Gillotts School.

She said she had been “rhyming” for “donkeys’ years” and used to type out her work on computer. “I would write a first line and then see where it led me and perhaps try and think of all the words that would rhyme with it,” she said. “Sometimes these rhymes would write themselves.”

Arline said she would often write poems for special occasions such as birthdays and national events such as the King’s coronation or the Queen’s death.

Rhyme would occasionally slip into her emails and a playful exchange with toaster manufacturer Morphy Richards about a broken appliance has also been included in the anthology.

Arline said she had always had a love of words and recalled spending many hours playing word games with her three children, Martin, Jenny and Robin. She said: “We used to play rhyming games at Christmas. We would all start with a line and then each of us would have to write a line that rhymed with that.

“And then you would write another one, fold over the top bit and leave the third line for the next person to write a rhyme to and then you’d pass it on.

“We called it rhyming consequences and we used to enjoy doing that.”

Arline moved to Nicholas Road in 1962 and 10 years later began teaching at Gillotts, where she spent 15 years until 1987.

After starting out in the art department, she specialised in pottery and taught pupils how to throw pots on a wheel and sculpt clay. Arline said: “Pottery is much harder work than teaching anything else because you’ve got to pack the kilns and see to all that.”

In her retirement, Arline moved to Albert Court in Reading Road, where she would write rhymes for fellow residents. Her friends Sue and Marcel helped to put a book of her rhymes together last year, which has been printed by Higgs Printers in Station Road.

Arline said: “While I could still just about see, I trawled through my computer and printed everything off that I could find.”

The launch of A Life in Rhyme will take place at the rugby club next Wednesday from 5pm to 8pm. Copies cost £12 from the Bell Bookshop after the launch.

Henley, by Arline Dace:

Our Henley is a charming town

It’s one of England’s gems

With varied architecture

And, of course, the river Thames

The Henley Royal Regatta -

This event takes place each year,

When people in their finery

Come on riverside to cheer.

I moved here in the Sixties

And I loved it straight away.

I’ve lived here more than sixty years

And have loved it more each day.

My children all grew up here

And, like me, they love it too

But to come back here to live again

Is affordable for few.

I’ve worked at the Leander Club

And sketched some local views

I enjoy the Henley Standard

Which gives us local news.

I joined the group called HAODS

And then performed in several shows.

I enjoyed it very much

And painted scenery for those.

I then became a teacher,

Taught at Gillotts fifteen years,

Saw pupils grow to adulthood

And start their own careers.

And when they are successful

It is really good to see.

I feel I am part of Henley

And that Henley’s part of me.