Saturday 21 June 2008

Midsummer Wash-Out

The cowslips tall her pensioners be:
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

Well, I would *do* what's described in the above quotation if I *could*. In fact we were going to look for fairies under strawberry plants today (translate that as visiting a pick-your-own farm) but yet again it raineth on the righteous. So, we're going to Astley Book Farm (when I grow up I want to be a book farmer) and then off to the pub, for a pint and a pie. Anyway, I wish you all a glorious Midsummer day...oh, and here's another poem to tickle your seasonal fancy!


Midsummer's Day draws closer now
As birdsong greets the dawning day
And sunlight's gold through swaying bough
Delights with dancing shadowplay,
And here amid this garden place
A riot of colour, plants and flowers,
The butterflies at leisured pace
Flit through the hours.


I dwell in gentle shade and find
A peace that fills the heart with light,
A healing place that clears the mind
And frees imagination's flight
Where soars the spirit on its quest
Discovering untrodden ways,
From waking to the time of rest
Down all the days.


Midsummer's Day....and did I use
In thankfulness each gifted day
That I might from these treasures choose
And find, in trust, the wiser way,
Through Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring
To live each precious moment sweet?


God's golden promised offering,
Makes Life complete!

John Mcloud

6 comments:

Maymomvt said...

I love this poem! I will share it with the girls today.

Dulce Domum said...

Hi Sarah
Yes, it's a very sweet poem, and good fro the season too!

em said...

A lovely poem! Who is John Mcloud? I googled him but found nothing.
Margaretha

Dulce Domum said...

Hi Em

Thank you for visiting my blog. Here is a link to some information about the poet...I think I may have spelled his name incorrectly, perhaps that's why your search didn't come up with much. His poems are very sweet and heartfelt.

http://www.wow4u.com/johnmcleod/index.html

em said...

Dulce,
Thanks for the link! I like his poems and found it interesting (maybe intriguing is a better word) that his poem "It's the journey that's important..." reminds me very much of a poem by the Swedish poet Karin Boye. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_Boye
Her poem "I rörelse" from 1927 is well known for the line: "det är vägen som är mödan värd" (But ‘tis the pathway, which is worth our while.") You can find the whole poem in English here:
http://www.karinboye.se/verk/dikter/dikter-engelska/on-the-move-2.shtml
Margaretha

Dulce Domum said...

Hi Em

Thank you for the link. I like this poem by Karin Boye too:


Knowledge

All the mindful ones with their long nets
meet with a great laugh from the sea.
Friends, what are you seeking on the beach?
knowledge can never be caught,
can never be owned.

But if you fall like a drop
straight into the sea to be dissolved,
ready for any transformation -
then you shall wake with mother-of-pearl skin
and green eyes
on fields where the sea's horses graze
and be knowledge.