I remember asking an older colleague during my first winter in Canada: "How long does it take one to get used to the cold in Canada". His wise reply was, "You can never get used to the winter in Canada". I spent six winters in Canada and somehow made it every time through the winter...how I used to look at the first signs of our tulip buds trying to thrust through the soil.......the surest sign of spring. The days would start to get longer then; you could leave for and return home from work during daylight, and the spirits would generally soar.
I believe winters in UK are not as bad as Canada - that is what I was told by the locals in UK on this trip. I reached UK on 01 Mar 09 and witnessed the slow change of seasons in my two weeks of stay there. I witnessed the blooming of the Crocus and Daffodils and really began to appreciate the poem, Daffodils, that I had read as a youngster in school. The daffodils really look beautiful especially with all the leafless trees, hedges and the dried up grass all around. Here is a my view of 'goodbye winter & hello spring' in Tattenhall village in the year 2009.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. --------------------William Wordsworth
I believe winters in UK are not as bad as Canada - that is what I was told by the locals in UK on this trip. I reached UK on 01 Mar 09 and witnessed the slow change of seasons in my two weeks of stay there. I witnessed the blooming of the Crocus and Daffodils and really began to appreciate the poem, Daffodils, that I had read as a youngster in school. The daffodils really look beautiful especially with all the leafless trees, hedges and the dried up grass all around. Here is a my view of 'goodbye winter & hello spring' in Tattenhall village in the year 2009.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. --------------------William Wordsworth
Comments
Amazing combination:)
I too remember the daffodils poem by W. Wordsworth, one of the 1st poems we are forced to learn by heart in school but I particularly remember my English teacher describing the beauty of the flower & I wondering how it looked.
Thank U for showing me:-))....they are just like I always envisioned.....beautiful & like poetry:-)).
Balvinder: I realised; you know I am still stuck in Nagaland - waiting for you to move ahead from there.
Reflections: Yes, I can imagine, although passing through Dubai airport is an experience of the desert that one can never forget, but once you get airborne you can see the vast expanse - like we used to see in Jaisalmer and Uttarlai.
I too remember our English teacher trying to explain the beauty of William Wordsworth's poem to us, and we could never understand - however having seen the context and the place things make more sense now to even this person who is not endowed to appreciate poetry.
And I knew the host of golden daffodils would grace this space. Am only sorry that I got here a bit later to savour it :)
Gorgeous, the daffodils... And now one understands truly what a sight it must have offered to that Nature's Poetic Soul of Wordsworth, and why he had to immortalize them in that incredible piece of poetry!
Beautiful. Made my day!