Sunday 15 November 2015

{52 Project}



I think these might be the very last pictures I'll capture of Autumn's glory. The winds this weekend have scattered leaves to drifts against the lanes, roadsides, hedgerows and garden walls.Yet as I write and hear the gathering, rustle and bustle of wind outside I feel cosy and warm at my desk. There is beauty in every season when we seek it.


The Darkling Thrush 
Thomas Hardy

 I leant upon a coppice gate
      When Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
      The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
      Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
      Had sought their household fires.

The land's sharp features seemed to be
      The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
      The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
      Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
      Seemed fervourless as I.

At once a voice arose among
      The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
      Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
      In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
      Upon the growing gloom.

So little cause for carolings
      Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
      Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
     His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
      And I was unaware. 

8 comments:

  1. wind's blowing heavily here too... no more golden leaves :) beautiful photos!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your pictures are lovely, i'm so happy to have landed here thanks to the 52 projects!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such beautiful captures of your world and the people you love :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. The faces are all such precious, pinchable cheek faces and the stag in the trees was magical!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. So lovely. I hope Emma is feeling well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh such beautiful pictures and one of my favourite Hardy poems to boot - he had a way for capturing Autumn didn't he!

    ReplyDelete

I treasure each and every one of your comments.
Your kind words never fail to bring a smile to my face:)
At the moment I am going through a busy season of life with 5 girls under my wing! I may not always be able to respond immediately but please know that every word left here is read and appreciated deeply.
xx