Our annual online meeting with the poet, Damian Walford Davies is now in its fourth year and continues to yield new insights on Witch: the collection the Year 13 students explore for A level coursework.

There is, for example, a poem from the point of view of Alyce Addy (whose mother, Clemence Addy, is later executed erroneously as a witch) in which the reader might assume that the whole of the poem is an interior monologue – as befits the position of a young peasant woman in the patriarchal and class-bound system. One group, however, felt that at least some of the poem might be articulate speech.

Whom better to ask for clarification than the poet?

In fact, Damian is never insistent on his poetical intentions. In this respect, the poet’s desire to encourage interpretative free play contrasts with the subject matter of his poems: puritan dogmatism that refuses to see Clemence’s actions as anything other than sinister.

The conversation ranged freely over the collection and even took account of the arresting cover art in which the pet marmoset (owned by the sceptical and benevolent clergyman, Thomas Love) features. Damian explained that he did not propose this for the cover but on seeing it could think of no better image. We also talked about the ways the collection blends narrative with the poetic and the dramatic and Damian confirmed that the poetical cycle has been performed and that he continues to think it would make a very successful radio play. Anyone who has read the collection will surely agree.

In the second half of the session the floor was thrown open to students to ask Damian questions. Damian is always appreciative of the penetrating nature of the questions the college’s students pose. One student’s enthusiasm for the collection resulted in her asking three equally insightful questions.

Damian was generous enough to answer a question via email the following morning posed by a student who could not attend. This generosity is characteristic of Damian who finds time each year in his busy schedule teaching as provost and deputy vice chancellor of Cardiff University to discuss his extraordinary collection. It deserves still greater recognition, but I am confident that for the students who have studied it over the last four years; it has taken up permanent residence in their hearts, minds and memories.