For Mary Angela Douglas, whose poems have made me a little more human.Sweet coldness of the moon, That house that had a chicken’s legs Spun like a top, an angel at the door, Some loadstone in an apron’s pouch, And meek Fevronia with her healing touch; The leafy carrots and the tulip’s breath, God who makes beauty out of nothingness, Sweet coldness of the moon, The Elder Ambrose and Aesop, The good things of this earth Howl all their woes to God, And sends He rain Upon the just and the unjust. Honey shall weep from stones, Those stone be hurled Into a blaze of loveliness Like titan apricots, The gold penumbra of our bliss; That house be loved into repose, Those nettles threshed into a gown, The rainbow’s end Is every friend, The good things of this earth Shake off the clam of nothingness, Into a blaze of loveliness, An angel at the door. Sweet coldness of the moon, And the blue mother of the wind, Then knock, and it shall ope, He shall not give a serpent for a fish.
HOW ABSOLUTELY LOVELY, JZ. I AM TRULY HONOURED BEYOND ANYTHING I CAN SAY. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL GIFT. I CAN NEVER THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR THE BLESSING OF THIS POEM ESPECIALLY ARRIVING AS IT DID TODAY, WHICH HAS BEEN A RATHER DIFFICULT DAY. BLESS YOU AND ALL YOU LOVE. THANK YOU!!! YOU ARE SUCH A RARE AND EXTRAORDINARY PERSON, POET AND SON OF THE MOST HIGH GOD AND OF HIS CHRIST. BEAUTIFUL PEARL SPUN POEM AND BEYOND. I CHERISH IT. GOD SPOKE TO ME DISCERNABLY THROUGH IT IN SUCH A STARTLING WAY. I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE PHRASE; THE BLUE MOTHER OF THE WIND...BUT THE WHOLE THING INTEGRALLY IS JUST AS YEATS SAID: ETERNAL BEAUTY WANDERING ON HER WAY...WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOODNESS TRUTH AND BEAUTY AND I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS DAY: TO BE GIVEN SUCH A GIFT...INCREDIBLE. MAY IT RETURN TO YOU IN HEAVENLY BLESSINGS 100 FOLD AND MORE.
I find that all of your poems say something that I am unable to say because of an ossification of the heart. This poem is a little gesture but I am deeply glad it brought you joy. Glory to God, and may forevermore that Beauty robe us which, as you say, is wandering and our eternal theme. I thank you dearly for reading it. May we both come to better know the Blue Mother of the Wind!
Lovely thought. The image reminds me so much of a beautiful book called At The Back of the North Wind, by George MacDonald. If you havent read that I know you would love it especially as illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith I believe her name is. I was reading that book in the days preceding my dear mother's death and finished it after her Heavenly birthday. The image of the Wind in that book is so beyond beautiful and consoling. That's what the mother of the blue wind made me think of. Your poetry is outstandingly beautiful and lyrical and mythical in its own right;highly unusual and carrying on the great illuminating flame of imagination in poetry through all ages. I am honored to know you JZ through your poems. May you write every thing you feel and imagine all your life long and may all your poetry endure being shepherded by the Almighty. In Jesus Name I DO pray this and mean this. Amen.
In all seriousness I had the thought this morning to send you a copy of At the Back of the North Wind if you had been unfamiliar with it. It is dear to me and to a close friend of mine, and I am honoured that you would recommend it (it is a special text). And thank you for all your other words which I do not deserve
That is so AMAZING! Haha. I am always somehow recommending books to people they have already read in full. Isnt it a beautiful book though? I just love it. I didnt know about it as a child. And I found it just when I needed it. It is lovely that you thought of sending me that book. I appreciate that very much. I recommend movies to people they've already seen too. I guess I should stop recommending, haha. But I ALWAYS THINK...just in case...
It is a great gift to recommend someone a book they haven't read or known of theretofore. I shall be hounding after those volumes of De La Mare now on your account, for which I thank you.
RE AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND BY GEORGE MACDONALD THERE HAVE BEEN MANY WONDERFUL ILLUSTRATORS OF THAT BOOK. THERE IS IN FACT A BEAUTIFUL EDITION ON AMAZON KINDLE WITH VINTAGE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOOK FOR ONLY 1.99 CENTS. THOUGH OF COURSE THE BOOK IN YOUR HAND FEELS MORE ORNATE ALWAYS SOMEHOW. STILL BEAUTIFUL THOUGH AND AFFORDABLE. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK. IT IS HEARTBREAKING BUT SOMEHOW THERE IS JOY IN IT. REMINDS ME OF HANS ANDERSEN'S TALE OF THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL . I AM A DEEP AND LIFELONG CHERISHING FAN OF THE FAIRYTALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN. ALSO OF COURSE THE BROTHERS GRIMM AND ANDREW LANG AS A COLLECTOR OF TALES. AND HIS RAINBOW BOOKS. BUT HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN WAS UNIQUE IN ALL THE WORLD AND I HAVE WRITTEN SO MANY POEMS IN HOMAGE TO HIM. I KNOW THAT I ALWAYS WILL. I also recommend a book called COME HITHER which is a delightful anthology of poems chosen by the mysterious illusionary elusive poet Walter De La Mare. For children and adutls as well. You would also I know love that book. Well I think so. Try and see.
I will read it again! and I have a paperback copy that's collected in the first volume of the Fantastic Imagination of George Macdonald, though I do not think it has illustrations. I love Hans Christian Andersen but I've not read much Andrew Lang, though I have the red and green and blue books I think. Walter De La Mare is one of my very favorite poets. I do not have that anthology and I shall search for it. I am glad that you love him too!
Andrew Lang I think was good at finding fairy tales from all over the world. But most I love the illustrations by Henry Justice Ford I think in Langs books. Especially when they are colour plates. I could look at them for hours. And their captions. Sometimes I just look at the titles of the fairytales. I am so glad you love Walter De La Mare. I first read his poems in a storybook that belonged to my mother. That had those old copper and aqua coloured illustrations in it. Truly glad to know we have some beautiful influences in common. Affinities I would call them happily. Sorry for bringing as they say, though coals to newcastle. i should have guessed your reading would be extraordinarily rich and varied. It shows in your work intrinsically! All of it!!
THIS IS A POEM I WROTE IN HOMAGE OF WALTER DE LA MARE...TAKEN FROM MY BLOG... HAPPY BIRTHDAY 150 YEARS WALTER DE LA MARE:
April 25, 2023
I SAW THE GHOST OF WALTER DE LA MARE
I saw the ghost of Walter de la mare
leaning, on an April curve of music,
unaware
I saw his hands of tender glass
and the thin china he was drinking from,
reflective, the dark raspberry still waters
of beauty he drew up in pailfuls-
the silver pooling stars
at his beck and call-
the curio cabinets bedizened,
strongholds of childhood jams
and the apricot laughter of the cherubim,
by his side.
now acorn cups half brim from twilight rain
the fairy feast’s abandoned, he complained
“Is there anybody there”?
he said, answering his own soul alone
“the whispering trees of Eden”,
he wept.
they pour the ocean into a thimble
our golden ships may founder in the Moss,
there are other losses,
song is made desolate, Walter de la mare
long years since your flag was
lowered to the ground,
marring with pearl
mere semblances of Music
everafter.
rust from the muted region’s flaking.
your antique tears I brushed away,
no one’s watercolor, for so long.
mary angela douglas 20-21 december 2009; 27 july 2022;25 april 2023
PLEASE NOTE: THE TWO LINES IN QUOTES ARE DE LA MARE'S OWN WORDS IN TWO OF HIS POEMS: The Listeners, and Goodbye. I do think his poem Goodbye, outside of the King James Bible,and the enitire works of Shakespeare,is the most beautiful poem in the English language
This poem is also based on an anecdote in the book Deathbed Visions, where a friend of his not that many days before his death was conversing with WDLM in front of a china shop window they were halfway looking at while conversing and he said that while gesturing animatedly all of a sudden he SAW THROUGH WDLM's hand as though it were transparent to the china in the window display. So I used this in the poem as well.
At his best. It has the beauty of his idle lyrics and the hauntingness of his haunting lyrics and the serious playfulness and the loveliness of all his poems.
Now acorn cups half brim from twilight rain. Thank you for this. I am certain De La Mare appreciates it also very much. His metaphysical side has always appealed to me
HOW ABSOLUTELY LOVELY, JZ. I AM TRULY HONOURED BEYOND ANYTHING I CAN SAY. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL GIFT. I CAN NEVER THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR THE BLESSING OF THIS POEM ESPECIALLY ARRIVING AS IT DID TODAY, WHICH HAS BEEN A RATHER DIFFICULT DAY. BLESS YOU AND ALL YOU LOVE. THANK YOU!!! YOU ARE SUCH A RARE AND EXTRAORDINARY PERSON, POET AND SON OF THE MOST HIGH GOD AND OF HIS CHRIST. BEAUTIFUL PEARL SPUN POEM AND BEYOND. I CHERISH IT. GOD SPOKE TO ME DISCERNABLY THROUGH IT IN SUCH A STARTLING WAY. I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE PHRASE; THE BLUE MOTHER OF THE WIND...BUT THE WHOLE THING INTEGRALLY IS JUST AS YEATS SAID: ETERNAL BEAUTY WANDERING ON HER WAY...WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOODNESS TRUTH AND BEAUTY AND I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS DAY: TO BE GIVEN SUCH A GIFT...INCREDIBLE. MAY IT RETURN TO YOU IN HEAVENLY BLESSINGS 100 FOLD AND MORE.
I find that all of your poems say something that I am unable to say because of an ossification of the heart. This poem is a little gesture but I am deeply glad it brought you joy. Glory to God, and may forevermore that Beauty robe us which, as you say, is wandering and our eternal theme. I thank you dearly for reading it. May we both come to better know the Blue Mother of the Wind!
Lovely thought. The image reminds me so much of a beautiful book called At The Back of the North Wind, by George MacDonald. If you havent read that I know you would love it especially as illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith I believe her name is. I was reading that book in the days preceding my dear mother's death and finished it after her Heavenly birthday. The image of the Wind in that book is so beyond beautiful and consoling. That's what the mother of the blue wind made me think of. Your poetry is outstandingly beautiful and lyrical and mythical in its own right;highly unusual and carrying on the great illuminating flame of imagination in poetry through all ages. I am honored to know you JZ through your poems. May you write every thing you feel and imagine all your life long and may all your poetry endure being shepherded by the Almighty. In Jesus Name I DO pray this and mean this. Amen.
In all seriousness I had the thought this morning to send you a copy of At the Back of the North Wind if you had been unfamiliar with it. It is dear to me and to a close friend of mine, and I am honoured that you would recommend it (it is a special text). And thank you for all your other words which I do not deserve
That is so AMAZING! Haha. I am always somehow recommending books to people they have already read in full. Isnt it a beautiful book though? I just love it. I didnt know about it as a child. And I found it just when I needed it. It is lovely that you thought of sending me that book. I appreciate that very much. I recommend movies to people they've already seen too. I guess I should stop recommending, haha. But I ALWAYS THINK...just in case...
It is a great gift to recommend someone a book they haven't read or known of theretofore. I shall be hounding after those volumes of De La Mare now on your account, for which I thank you.
RE AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND BY GEORGE MACDONALD THERE HAVE BEEN MANY WONDERFUL ILLUSTRATORS OF THAT BOOK. THERE IS IN FACT A BEAUTIFUL EDITION ON AMAZON KINDLE WITH VINTAGE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOOK FOR ONLY 1.99 CENTS. THOUGH OF COURSE THE BOOK IN YOUR HAND FEELS MORE ORNATE ALWAYS SOMEHOW. STILL BEAUTIFUL THOUGH AND AFFORDABLE. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK. IT IS HEARTBREAKING BUT SOMEHOW THERE IS JOY IN IT. REMINDS ME OF HANS ANDERSEN'S TALE OF THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL . I AM A DEEP AND LIFELONG CHERISHING FAN OF THE FAIRYTALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN. ALSO OF COURSE THE BROTHERS GRIMM AND ANDREW LANG AS A COLLECTOR OF TALES. AND HIS RAINBOW BOOKS. BUT HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN WAS UNIQUE IN ALL THE WORLD AND I HAVE WRITTEN SO MANY POEMS IN HOMAGE TO HIM. I KNOW THAT I ALWAYS WILL. I also recommend a book called COME HITHER which is a delightful anthology of poems chosen by the mysterious illusionary elusive poet Walter De La Mare. For children and adutls as well. You would also I know love that book. Well I think so. Try and see.
I will read it again! and I have a paperback copy that's collected in the first volume of the Fantastic Imagination of George Macdonald, though I do not think it has illustrations. I love Hans Christian Andersen but I've not read much Andrew Lang, though I have the red and green and blue books I think. Walter De La Mare is one of my very favorite poets. I do not have that anthology and I shall search for it. I am glad that you love him too!
Andrew Lang I think was good at finding fairy tales from all over the world. But most I love the illustrations by Henry Justice Ford I think in Langs books. Especially when they are colour plates. I could look at them for hours. And their captions. Sometimes I just look at the titles of the fairytales. I am so glad you love Walter De La Mare. I first read his poems in a storybook that belonged to my mother. That had those old copper and aqua coloured illustrations in it. Truly glad to know we have some beautiful influences in common. Affinities I would call them happily. Sorry for bringing as they say, though coals to newcastle. i should have guessed your reading would be extraordinarily rich and varied. It shows in your work intrinsically! All of it!!
THIS IS A POEM I WROTE IN HOMAGE OF WALTER DE LA MARE...TAKEN FROM MY BLOG... HAPPY BIRTHDAY 150 YEARS WALTER DE LA MARE:
April 25, 2023
I SAW THE GHOST OF WALTER DE LA MARE
I saw the ghost of Walter de la mare
leaning, on an April curve of music,
unaware
I saw his hands of tender glass
and the thin china he was drinking from,
reflective, the dark raspberry still waters
of beauty he drew up in pailfuls-
the silver pooling stars
at his beck and call-
the curio cabinets bedizened,
strongholds of childhood jams
and the apricot laughter of the cherubim,
by his side.
now acorn cups half brim from twilight rain
the fairy feast’s abandoned, he complained
“Is there anybody there”?
he said, answering his own soul alone
“the whispering trees of Eden”,
he wept.
they pour the ocean into a thimble
our golden ships may founder in the Moss,
there are other losses,
song is made desolate, Walter de la mare
long years since your flag was
lowered to the ground,
marring with pearl
mere semblances of Music
everafter.
rust from the muted region’s flaking.
your antique tears I brushed away,
no one’s watercolor, for so long.
mary angela douglas 20-21 december 2009; 27 july 2022;25 april 2023
PLEASE NOTE: THE TWO LINES IN QUOTES ARE DE LA MARE'S OWN WORDS IN TWO OF HIS POEMS: The Listeners, and Goodbye. I do think his poem Goodbye, outside of the King James Bible,and the enitire works of Shakespeare,is the most beautiful poem in the English language
This poem is also based on an anecdote in the book Deathbed Visions, where a friend of his not that many days before his death was conversing with WDLM in front of a china shop window they were halfway looking at while conversing and he said that while gesturing animatedly all of a sudden he SAW THROUGH WDLM's hand as though it were transparent to the china in the window display. So I used this in the poem as well.
THIS IS THE POEM I MEAN: GOODBYE BY WALTER DE LA MARE. I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE LINE: THOUGHT IN HER IVORY TOWER GROPES IN HER SPINNING...
The last of last words spoken is, Good-bye -
The last dismantled flower in the weed-grown hedge,
The last thin rumour of a feeble bell far ringing,
The last blind rat to spurn the mildewed rye.
A hardening darkness glasses the haunted eye,
Shines into nothing the watcher's burnt-out candle,
Wreathes into scentless nothing the wasting incense,
Faints in the outer silence the hunting-cry.
Love of its muted music breathes no sigh,
Thought in her ivory tower gropes in her spinning,
Toss on in vain the whispering trees of Eden,
Last of all last words spoken is, Good-bye.
At his best. It has the beauty of his idle lyrics and the hauntingness of his haunting lyrics and the serious playfulness and the loveliness of all his poems.
Now acorn cups half brim from twilight rain. Thank you for this. I am certain De La Mare appreciates it also very much. His metaphysical side has always appealed to me