Cicely Fox Smith
Biography of Cicely Fox Smith
Born Feb 1st 1882
Died April 8th 1954
Cicely was born into a middle class family in Northern England during the later half of the reign of Queen Victoria. Her father was a lawyer and her grandfather was a clergyman. A typical female child of that era might have been expected to have a short education and then to settle down to life as a homemaker either for her family or her marriage partner. Thankfully that did not happen in Cicely's case.
A Bird's Call
Over the upland fields, where free and strong
The fresh hill-breezes swept,
I heard a wild bird calling all day long,
Calling as if it wept.
And the wild voice brought back delights and tears
From time's forgotten hoard,
Cleaving the dead cold mist of bygone years
Like a two-edged sword.