Iliff-King phrasebook
definition
Wert noun
rhymes with: flirt
A bird sculpted in alabaster by Mum
Origin
In a spirit of self-deprecation, Mum referred to the elegant creature as “bird thou never wert” as in Shelley’s poem (see Notes). The Wert stuck
Collector
Mum – 1980s?
Pauline Iliff (Dixon) – mother of Mark, JM, G & Bel
Notes
Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!
Bird thou never wert,
That from Heaven, or near it,
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.
—from To a Skylark, Percy Bysshe Shelley 1820
(Sidenote: Does that mean that in 1820 we all pronounced heart to rhyme with flirt, rather than fart?)
Wert is now in Mark and Naomi’s possession
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