Wednesday 26 March 2014

The Progress of Spring

Charles Daniel Ward: The Progress of Spring

The Progress of Spring
by Lord Alfred Tennyson

The groundflame of the crocus breaks the mould,
Fair Spring slides hither o'er the Southern sea,
Wavers on her thin stem the snowdrop cold
That trembles not to kisses of the bee:
Come Spring, for now from all the dripping eaves
The spear of ice has wept itself away,
And hour by hour unfolding woodbine leaves
O'er his uncertain shadow droops the day.
She comes! The loosen'd rivulets run;
The frost-bead melts upon her golden hair;
Her mantle, slowly greening in the Sun,
Now wraps her close, now arching leaves her bar
To breaths of balmier air;
Up leaps the lark, gone wild to welcome her,
About her glance the tits, and shriek the jays,
Before her skims the jubilant woodpecker,
The linnet's bosom blushes at her gaze,
While round her brows a woodland culver flits,
Watching her large light eyes and gracious looks,
And in her open palm a halcyon sits
Patient--the secret splendour of the brooks.
Come Spring! She comes on waste and wood,
On farm and field: but enter also here,
Diffuse thyself at will thro' all my blood,
And, tho' thy violet sicken into sere,
Lodge with me all the year!

Once more a downy drift against the brakes,
Self-darken'd in the sky, descending slow!
But gladly see I thro' the wavering flakes
Yon blanching apricot like snow in snow.
These will thine eyes not brook in forest-paths,
On their perpetual pine, nor round the beech;
They fuse themselves to little spicy baths,
Solved in the tender blushes of the peach;
They lose themselves and die
On that new life that gems the hawthorn line;
Thy gay lent-lilies wave and put them by,
And out once more in varnish'd glory shine
Thy stars of celandine.

She floats across the hamlet. Heaven lours,
But in the tearful splendour of her smiles
I see the slowl-thickening chestnut towers
Fill out the spaces by the barren tiles.
Now past her feet the swallow circling flies,
A clamorous cuckoo stoops to meet her hand;
Her light makes rainbows in my closing eyes,
I hear a charm of song thro' all the land.
Come, Spring! She comes, and Earth is glad
To roll her North below thy deepening dome,
But ere thy maiden birk be wholly clad,
And these low bushes dip their twigs in foam,
Make all true hearths thy home.

Across my garden! and the thicket stirs,
The fountain pulses high in sunnier jets,
The blackcap warbles, and the turtle purrs,
The starling claps his tiny castanets.
Still round her forehead wheels the woodland dove,
And scatters on her throat the sparks of dew,
The kingcup fills her footprint, and above
Broaden the glowing isles of vernal blue.
Hail ample presence of a Queen,
Bountiful, beautiful, apparell'd gay,
Whose mantle, every shade of glancing green,
Flies back in fragrant breezes to display
A tunic white as May!

She whispers, 'From the South I bring you balm,
For on a tropic mountain was I born,
While some dark dweller by the coco-palm
Watch'd my far meadow zoned with airy morn;
From under rose a muffled moan of floods;
I sat beneath a solitude of snow;
There no one came, the turf was fresh, the woods
Plunged gulf on gulf thro' all their vales below
I saw beyond their silent tops
The steaming marshes of the scarlet cranes,
The slant seas leaning oll the mangrove copse,
And summer basking in the sultry plains
About a land of canes;

'Then from my vapour-girdle soaring forth
I scaled the buoyant highway of the birds,
And drank the dews and drizzle of the North,
That I might mix with men, and hear their words
On pathway'd plains; for--while my hand exults
Within the bloodless heart of lowly flowers
To work old laws of Love to fresh results,
Thro' manifold effect of simple powers--
I too would teach the man
Beyond the darker hour to see the bright,
That his fresh life may close as it began,
The still-fulfilling promise of a light
Narrowing the bounds of night.'

So wed thee with my soul, that I may mark
The coming year's great good and varied ills,
And new developments, whatever spark
Be struck from out the clash of warring wills;
Or whether, since our nature cannot rest,
The smoke of war's volcano burst again
From hoary deeps that belt the changeful West,
Old Empires, dwellings of the kings of men;
Or should those fail, that hold the helm,
While the long day of knowledge grows and warms,
And in the heart of this most ancient realm
A hateful voice be utter'd, and alarms
Sounding 'To arms! to arms!'

A simpler, saner lesson might he learn
Who reads thy gradual process, Holy Spring.
Thy leaves possess the season in their turn,
And in their time thy warblers rise on wing.
How surely glidest thou from March to May,
And changest, breathing it, the sullen wind,
Thy scope of operation, day by day,
Larger and fuller, like the human mind '
Thy warmths from bud to bud
Accomplish that blind model in the seed,
And men have hopes, which race the restless blood
That after many changes may succeed
Life, which is Life indeed.

Wednesday 19 March 2014

Frozen Rainbow

J.E. Millais: Blind Girl

Far below the valleys, hidden deep beneath the snow
There you'll find the secret of the frozen rainbow
The first of all the ages, lies hidden 'neath the ice
The one who finds the secret holds the power to all life

Father told me stories many years ago
Stories of the rainbow, hidden deep beneath the snow
He searched through all his lifetime, but that was not to be
I'll find the frozen rainbow and set the spirit free

I'll find the rainbow, frozen rainbow
I'll find the rainbow, frozen rainbow

So now I find the rainbow as it was meant to be
My search will soon be over, the secret clear to me
I look into the colors to find the hidden truth
And after all the ages, I'll set the spirit free

I'll find the rainbow, frozen rainbow
I'll find the rainbow, frozen rainbow

Tuesday 11 March 2014

Drifting sun

Lord Frederic Leighton:  Light of the Harem

Well, I'm sitting on a stone
Sitting all alone
Daisies are rolling down the mountain
Well see the lonesome tramp
Who's living in the damp
Nobody's in the valley
Shine on, Shine on sun
Oh it's so cold right here
Shine on, Shine on sun
Shine on all night long
All night long
Baby doll, I'm sad and blue
Glossy wings will carry you
Well, midnight sun will never shine
These ravings of a fool
You're thinking all about him all the time
Shine on, Shine on sun
Oh it's so cold right here
Shine on, Shine on sun
Shine on all night long, all night long
All night long, yeah
One day baby told you sun just fades away
Forgot your life is fading, now he's in the grave
Some days like drifting haze
Some days like glowing blaze
Some days like tides of light
Some days like tides of night
One day baby told you sun just fades away
Forgot your life is fading, now he's in the grave
Some days like drifting haze
Some days like glowing blaze
Some days like tides of light
Some days like tides of night
Travelling along a tropic highway
Crazy as the world goes round and round
Hallowed heaven, night or day
Burning thing has putting the sun away
Shine on, Shine on sun
Let it shine on all night long
Shine on, Shine on sun
Let it shine on all night long

Wednesday 5 March 2014

Heart of Steel

Rebbeca Guay: Earths Blessing

Build a fire a thousand miles away to light 
My long way home 
I ride a comet 
My trail is long to stay 
Silence is a heavy stone 
I fight the world and take all they can give 
There are times my heart hangs low 
Born to walk against the wind 
Born to hear my name 
No matter where I stand I'm alone 

Stand and fight 
Live by your heart 

Always one more try 
I'm not afraid to die 
Stand and fight 
Say what you feel 
Born with a heart of steel 

Burn the bridge behind you 
Leave no retreat 
There's only one way home 
Those who laugh and crowd the path and cut 
Each other's throats 
We'll fall like melting snow 
They'll watch us rise with fire in our eyes 
They'll bow their heads 
Their hearts will hang low 
Then we'll laugh and they will kneel and know 
This heart of steel was 
Too hard to break 
Too hard to hold 

Stand and fight 
Live by your heart 
Always one more try 
I'm not afraid to die 
Stand and fight 
Say what you feel 
Born with a heart of steel


Sunday 2 March 2014

The Duel after the masqued ball

Thomas Couture: Duel after the masqued ball

"Welcome back, my friend, to this wicked game
Let me remind you
how to play
Back from the edge of time

You may have forgotten that
No honour
you need to protect
And no rules you need to learn
Back from the edge of time

You may try to show respect
You may try to show some pity
Here's another unknown victim"

"Here we fight and never rest
A cold and blind heart is what you need
Back from the edge of time

You may still believe in words
Like trust and loyalty
They don't matter any more
Back from the edge of time

You must accept our new world
Our battle rages on
Come and face your destiny"

Seeking, now
Found: feelings
Underline this word
Searching, now
Found: soul
Underline this word

"You may still believe in words
Like trust and loyalty
They don't matter any more
Back from the edge of time

You must accept our new world
Our battle rages on
Come and face your destiny"

Seeking, now
Found: feelings
Underline this word
Searching, now
Found: soul
Underline this word