Saturday, May 7, 2011

"...SO BEAUTIFUL AS SPRING -"


Nothing is so beautiful as spring—
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush's eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.
What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth's sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. — Have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid's child, thy choice and worthy the winning.


"Spring" by Gerard Manley Hopkins.

How lovely to find a poem in the public domain at Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac, especially such a beauty as "Spring".
"...and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;"
Exquisite.

The song thrush is not native to our habitat, but below is a spring scene from the vine on our fence from a few years ago, which shows baby mockingbirds who think our rustling of the leaves to take a peek is a parent arriving to feed them and prepare themselves with mouths wide open.



Image of the song thrush eggs from Wikipedia.

2 comments:

  1. I read the poem earlier today courtesy of the Writer's Almanac and have been thinking of the intense blue of the thrush's eggs. You're psychic, Mimi :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cathy, it's pretty amazing that the same imagery attracted us.

    I also like, "What is all this juice and all this joy?" In truth, I like the whole poem.

    ReplyDelete

Anonymous commenters, please sign a name, any name, to distinguish one anonymous commenter from another. Thank you.