Rushes in a Watery Place
Rushes in a watery place,
And reeds in a hollow;
A soaring skylark in the sky,
A darting swallow
And where pale blossom used to hang
Ripe fruit to follow.
Christina Rossetti
Slieve Gua
Slieve Gua, craggy and black wolf-den:
In its clefts the wind howls,
In its denes the wolves wail.
Autumn on Slieve Gua, and the angry
Brown deer bells, and herons
Croak across Slieve Gua's crags.
From the Old
Taken from Geoffrey Grigson - The Cherry Tree.
The photo above comes from last night at twilight when I went to shut in the hens, and I looked across the church yard and thought about Halloween and the rising dead!.. No I don't believe that of course, but it is funny that All Saint's Night in this country is seen as a part of the witching process, dark and evil souls rising from the ground whereas in other countries you lay out a feast for the dead to come and sup with you;) We shall light a candle in the window for them that are long gone but remembered by their families as they place flowers and plants in front of the headstones.
I was born on Hallowe'en so it has special importance for me and I always have a lighted pumpkin by the gate. Not sure I would care to live next to a churchyard on such a night, but as my father always used to say - if they didn't hurt you when they were alive then they certainly can't hurt you now.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course your father was perfectly right, we just have imaginations working overtime.
ReplyDelete