In a much lighter mood from The Odyssey I turn to Billy Collins. The back cover of the book I quote from today refers to Collins’ poems as follows – “…they may, and often do, begin with the everyday and end in the infinite. Collins has managed to enrich American poetry while greatly widening theContinue reading “A good dog story!”
Tag Archives: Nature
“The wrong end of the long telescope of Time”
Humming-BirdI can imagine, in some otherworldPrimeval-dumb, far backIn that most awful stillness, that only gasped and hummed,Humming-birds raced down the avenues. Before anything had a soul,While life was a heave of Matter, half inanimate,This little bit chipped off in brillianceAnd went whizzing through the slow, vast, succulent stems. I believe there were no flowers then,InContinue reading ““The wrong end of the long telescope of Time””
Inscape and Landscape
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of introducing a good friend to this view point on his first trip to Scotland, commonly known as The Queen’s View. As I took the photo I was pleased to capture Schiehallion in the distance. The following has been written about this 3500ft hill. “Its shape, location,Continue reading “Inscape and Landscape”
Autumn
This is such a beautiful time of year and how I long for it year after year. At last the hot days of summer are past and the biting cold dark days of midwinter have not yet arrived. Readiness though is in the air, and the trees themselves are making ready as they shed theirContinue reading “Autumn”
“being too happy in thine happiness”
The poem Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats (1795-1821) is regarded by many as a classic. There are just too many great lines to count, it might be easier to number the not so good lines of the total of 80 that make up the poem. Keats writes from a drowsy numbness as ifContinue reading ““being too happy in thine happiness””
maggie and milly, and molly and may
maggie and milly and molly and may maggie and milly and molly and maywent down to the beach(to play one day) and maggie discovered a shell that sangso sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and milly befriended a stranded starwhose rays five languid fingers were; and molly was chased by a horrible thingwhich raced sideways whileContinue reading “maggie and milly, and molly and may”
Snowy, snowy, night!
As I write this blog snow is forecast to fall later this evening and in the overnight hours. Although snow brings with it some hard shoveling work, yet as it falls it creates much beauty as the landscape is painted white. Even every house in the street looks the same and every yard or gardenContinue reading “Snowy, snowy, night!”
God’s Grandeur
Having just spent the past few days re-reading some of Keats’s poetry I am reminded of his delight in the beauty in the landscape which he saw all around him as he undertook his long walk through Scotland in 1818. His fellow Romantic poets, Hopkins and Wordsworth were also eager to write about the beautyContinue reading “God’s Grandeur”
A steady cadence.
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending a few days in the south west corner of North Carolina. Renting a cabin in the woods in the Smoky Mountains provided a wonderful opportunity for walking in the woods. Many of my walks were made more pleasurable by the steady cadence of fast flowingContinue reading “A steady cadence.”
To a Mouse
On the last page of the October issue of The Atlantic there is a lovely story by staff writer James Parker, Ode to Squirrels. Here is an excerpt as he talks to the squirrel as it evades his dog “You evade him always, corkscrewing around a tree trunk or dancing ninjalike along a fence. HisContinue reading “To a Mouse”
Prayers, Poems, and Christian Ponderings 