Saturday 5 April 2014

Fresh green and sparkling for spring



"And the dimpling stream runs laughing by"

Primroses scent the grass and add colour
The new leaves on the trees in the town are fresh and bright even on a cloudy day
Spring is the season most associated with youth, with love and baby lambs, rabbits and chicks. The leaves are fresh and green. In the town the dust hadn't had a chance to settle on them. All our senses are on full alert. Our ears ring and sizzle with the trilling and warbling of the birds. The scent of freshly-cut grass renews sweetly our breath, unless you suffer from hay-fever. Every day there is a new sight to gladden our hearts as the blossom appears in unexpected corners, above a wall, round a corner. There is joy again in sitting on the grass and the feel of the first warm rays of sun on your skin.
 
William Blake (1757-1827) must have felt great delight being in the countryside. This poem from Songs of Innocence is called The Laughing Song. H.E.Bates made the first line famous in The Darling Buds of May series about  the Larkin family.

When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy
And the dimpling stream runs laughing by
When the air does laugh with our merry wit
And the green hill laughs with the noise of it.

When the meadows laugh with lively green
And the grasshopper laughs in the merry scene
When Mary and Susan and Emily with their sweet round mouths sing"Ha   ha he!'

When the painted birds laugh in the shade
Where  our table with cherries and nuts is spread
Come live and be merry and join with me
To sing the sweet chorus of 'Ha ha he!' I have always loved this poem. It sounds just like I feel after a glass of prosecco going home for Sunday lunch, one glass only.
It is a lovely sight to see blossom in hidden corners




No comments:

Post a Comment