By Arthur Davison Ficke
I am in love with high far-seeing places
That look on plains half-sunlight and half-storm,
In love with hours when from the circling faces
Veils pass, and laughing fellowship glows warm.
You who look on me with grave eyes where rapture
And April love of living burn confessed--
The Gods are good! the world lies free to capture!
Life has no walls. Oh, take me to your breast!
Take me--be with me for a moment’s span!
I am in love with all unveilèd faces.
I seek the wonder at the heart of man;
I would go up to the far-seeing places.
While youth is ours, turn toward me for a space
The marvel of your rapture-lighted face!
There are strange shadows fostered of the moon,
More numerous than the clear-cut shade of day...
Go forth, when all the leaves whisper of June,
Into the dusk of swooping bats at play;
Or go into that late November dusk
When hills take on the noble lines of death,
And on the air the faint astringent musk
Of rotting leaves pours vaguely troubling breath.
Then shall you see shadows whereof the sun
Knows nothing--aye, a thousand shadows there
Shall leap and flicker and stir and stay and run,
Like petrels of the changing foul or fair;
Like ghosts of twilight, of the moon, of him
Whose homeland lies past each horizon’s rim...
--------
Sunday was just as lovely as Saturday in terms of the weather -- a bit overcast but slightly warmer, making it a perfect day to be outdoors -- but Adam had a lot of homework, so instead of hiking on Sugarloaf Mountain as we originally thought we might do, we contented ourselves with a walk around the lake at the Rio complex before a necessary unexciting shopping trip to Target etc. We are now the proud owners of a new bath mat -- our old one having unraveled in the washing machine -- and Deathly Hallows Part II on DVD to complete the set (will have to watch all the extras online, I am not switching to Blu-Ray at this late date).
It's been a fairly quiet evening after the Redskins and Ravens both embarrassed themselves against the Dolphins and Seahawks respectively -- the Eagles lost too, so I'm not bothered, but now the dragging Jets-Patriots game is on and I only got a short break from football for Once Upon a Time and wish I'd insisted on catching up on Merlin. At least they're not going on about Paterno and Penn State today. Here are a few photos from around Washingtonian Lake, where we saw a cormorant -- quite unusual there -- as well as the usual ducks, geese, and songbirds:
No comments:
Post a Comment