Garden gates and woodland paths leading to magic kingdoms

There's something about a garden gate that capture's a child's imagination. It is just the right height for little ones to lift the latch , open it and walk through. I still get that feeling now on seeing a garden gate or a path leading into woodland or a sunlit grove. Now the days are getting really hot, it is a special  to find a shady spot. The poet John Clare (1793 - 1861) must have felt like this too. he was the farm labourer's son I have written about before. Sadly, like William Blake, he was also considered to be a bit unusual by his contemporaries. It is nice to think the poetry he wrote lives on and still gives pleasure.

Now, almost hid in trees, a little gate
Cheats us into the darkness of the wood.
We almost think the day is wearing late
So dreamy is the light that dwells around
And so refreshing is its sombre mood,
We feel at once shut out from sun and sky,
All the deliciousness of solitude.
While sauntering noiseless o'er the leafy ground
the air we breathe seems losing every trace
Of earth and all its trouble

A garden gate that a child can manage and find enchanting

Pathways leading to magic places

A sunny woodland glade where fairies might be hiding

A path through the woods