All feeling is in nature: words, rhymes, books
Are too typeset; the mot juste cannot quite convey
Nuance from a choral work of roosting rooks
Or singing winds that cause the branch and grass to sway
Naked at the horizontal; these pull my breath away
And then inspire again just as moon turns tide
Twice about face from day to every day
There we sense where Deum in perpetuum abides
All this and so much more besides
~~ -~~
All nature has a feeling: woods, fields, brooks
Are life eternal: and in silence they
Speak happiness beyond the reach of books;
There’s nothing mortal in them; their decay
Is the green life of change; to pass away
And come again in blooms revivified.
Its birth was heaven, eternal it its stay,
And with the sun and moon shall still abide
Beneath their day and night and heaven wide
In the rhyme scheme and mould of John Clare’s ‘All nature has a feeling‘ for Bryan’s Tuesday prompt whereby he encourages us to“cover” a poem by a poet whom we admire: Poetics: Cover with Bryan. A belated offering in Open Link Night #185 and shelving it also for Poetry Pantry
A wonderful cover of a wonderful poem. I think you managed in singing with your own voice while capturing the same sense as the origanal… magic.
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glad you could hear my song Björn – thank you – Clare surely heard music in nature though it drove him mad
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I actually find your cover to be more melodic, less staccato. It feels more harmonious to me, even though both poems carry deep and admirable emotions one should take heed. I really enjoyed reading your poem!
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a lovely comment – thank you – Clare’s life was certainly full of staccato between poverty and the madhouse but his connection with nature was consistent – see “The depressed poet of joy”
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this time it is the art in your photo
that keeps drawing me back
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One of those pictures worth a large number of words? 😉
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Nature has no feelings. We, who are a product, of Nature, however bastardized and corrupted we’ve become. Nature talks to us in our language.
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Maybe our true nature is feeling?
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No, it’s not abstract enough.
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The point is not veracity but the poet’s own sensitivities to nature and the happiness he finds in its eternal cycle
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True. But even those cycles are temporary on the grand scale – which bring us back to eternal cycles?
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and ever decreasing circles
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It is true words only cover so much – but they are magical when brought together so beautifully and skilfully..it made me wonder if all writing ponders nature in some ways
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I guess poetry does its best with words Jae Rose – knowing what they convey far beyond their meaning
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this is a brilliant work…your version is deeper and complex like a 21st C poem…love the couplet so much….
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thank you for seeing this as up to date – I like ending couplets as a rule Sumana but this one driven by emulating Clare’s own rhyme scheme –
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Oh!💝This is absolutely incredible writing, Laura 😀 such a cool take on the prompt!💝
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fun to follow in the footsteps of the poet
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Or singing winds that cause the branch and grass to sway
Naked at the horizontal… beautiful!
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❤ – thank you!
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Ah yes the “nuances” in turn sound the loudest in our thoughts, if we are perceptive enough to listen
Thanks for dropping in at my Sunday Standard today Laura
much love…
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nice way of putting that Gillena – thank you
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I love the way you took us from books to rooks.. and the inspiration nature provides the artist.
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an obvious rhyme I’ll admit Kerry but returning to simpler roots/routes helps shear off a tendency to superfluity!
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A beautiful cover of nature ~ I love your response ~
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thank you Grace
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What a wonderful exercise. I really like your adaptation. I especially like the roosting rooks.
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have a particular fondness for rookeries and their chorus 🙂
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A splendid cover of a wonderful source. I especially love:
singing winds that cause the branch and grass to sway
(But actually it is hard to separate anything out from a poem that flows so beautifully. Every lovely line and phrase is even better in context.)
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a beautiful bolstering comment Rosemary – thank you for such generous words
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A fascinating exercise. I will go back and read it again. I especially like the switch in the opening lines. It’s tricky and challenging. I think I will try this exercise. Very intriguing.
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Beth are you a closet poet besides being a gorgeous gardener?
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Beautifully written, and yes, I hear the music always in Nature,
Elizabeth
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I rather gathered that by your wonderful way with words 🙂
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Yes, I do believe in the voice and songs of nature. A lovely cover!
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thank you Mish – as a city dweller I listen even harder when I can
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