Friday 12 October 2012

Pied Beauty

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When I collected my breakfast fig [which has been a daily treat for the last couple of weeks] I removed some of the tree’s dying leaves – in brindled, spotted, dappled shades of green and gold and amber and brown. They were too gorgeous to discard – so I arranged them in my big china platter- and put the apples and oranges from the fruit bowl on top. The Coxes Orange Pippins were a riot of colour too – and I was reminded of Gerard Manley Hopkins lovely poem…

GLORY be to God for dappled things—

  For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

    For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

  Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;

    And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
  Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
    With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
                     Praise him.

8 comments:

  1. I love this poem and remember doing a Literacy lesson with 9/10 year olds based around it. They really got into the descriptive words - fresh firecoal chestnut falls! rose moles all in stipple! - what wonderful, beautiful language!

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  2. that plate looks lovely...fab autumn colours
    tess

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  3. Oh, I love Hopkins! A perfect poem for this time of year.

    xofrances

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  4. I've loved this poem ever since I first read it as a child. Thanks for reminding me of it.

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  5. Stunning colours that befit the poem.
    Kiwi Fi

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  6. Beautiful leaves. Linda xxx

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  7. Favourite Autumn post so far!

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  8. Those words just sing.

    Lovely colours on your gold-green figleaf-appled plate!

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