Thursday 10 November 2011

The photo is...the poem isn't.

The photograph is Scottish (ie taken in Scotland ) but the poem is by John Clare who was an English poet of the 1800s. When crunching over the leaves you see in the photo it made me want to write something about autumn leaves. Since my own attempt was a bit puny I went seeking inspiration. On my little bit of hunting I came across the peom below and just loved the cadences of it. So much description in a few lines. I hope you like it too!

Pleasant sounds by John Clare (One of his late prose poems)

The rustling leaves under the feet in woods and under hedges;

The crumping of cat-ice and snow down wood-rides, narrow lanes, and every street causeway;

Rustling through a wood or rather rushing, while the wind halloos in the oak-top like thunder;

The rustle of birds’ wings starled from their nests or flying unseen into the bushes;

The whizzing of larger birds overhead in a wood, such as crows, puddocks, buzzards;

The trample of robins and woodlarks on the brown leaves, and the patter of squirrels on the green moss;

The fall of an acorn on the ground, the pattering of nuts on the hazel branches as they fall from ripeness;

The flirt of the groundlark’s wing from the stubbles-how sweet such pictures on dewy mornings, when the dew flashes from its brown feathers!

If this inspires you to write about autumn share it wih us...or add anything you, too, find autumnally descriptive!

2 comments:

  1. Very beautiful! I loved it. Thanks, and your pic is lovely too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Beth! That time of year, isn't it.

    ReplyDelete

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