Thursday, March 12, 2009

Poetry; Dorothea McKellar;

My favourite poem;

The Colours Of Light; Dorothea McKellar;


This is not easy to understand
For you that come from a distant land
Where all the colours are low in pitch -
Deep purples, emeralds deep and rich,
Where autumn's flaming and summer's green -
Here is a beauty you have not seen.


All is pitched in a higher key,
Lilac, topaz, and ivory,
Palest jade-green and pale clear blue
Like aquamarines that the sun shines through,
Golds and silvers, we have at will -
Silver and gold on each plain and hill,
Silver-green of the myall leaves,
Tawny gold of the garnered sheaves,
Silver rivers that silent slide,
Golden sands by the water-side,


Golden wattle, and golden broom,
Silver stars of the rosewood bloom;
Amber sunshine, and smoke-blue shade:
Opal colours that glow and fade;
On the gold of the upland grass
Blue cloud-shadows that swiftly pass;
Wood-smoke blown in an azure mist;
Hills of tenuous amethyst. . .


Oft the colours are pitched so high
The deepest note is the cobalt sky;
We have to wait till the sunset comes
For shades that feel like the beat of drums -
Or like organ notes in their rise and fall -
Purple and orange and cardinal,
Or the peacock-green that turns soft and slow
To peacock-blue as the great stars show .


Sugar-gum boles flushed to peach-blow pink;
Blue-gums, tall at the clearing's brink;
Ivory pillars, their smooth fine slope
Dappled with delicate heliotrope;
Grey of the twisted mulga-roots;
Golden-bronze of the budding shoots;
Tints of the lichens that cling and spread
Nile-green, primrose, and palest red


Sheen of the bronze-wing; blue of the crane;
Fawn and pearl of the lyrebird's train;
Cream of the plover; grey of the dove -
These are the hues of the land I love.




Photo TS

4 comments:

Elfe said...

Hallo liebe Titania

Da beschreibt sie bestimmt Deine Heimat Australien. Das muss ein kleines Paradies sein wo Du lebst.
Bei uns ist es immer noch kalt und es regnet in Strömen. Der Winter will nicht weichen.
Herzliche Grüsse
Elfe

LOURDES C COSTA said...

Beautiful shot,pretty colors.
Thanks for visiting my blog...
Have a happy weekend...


Hugs from Portugal
LURDES

DeniseinVA said...

Wonderful post, and I so enjoyed the poem. Thank you! :)))

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Danke Elfe fuer dein Kommentar, Ja das tut sie aber eigentlich mehr den Sueden von Australien, ich lebe im Norden.

Thank you Fotos da Lurdes for stopping by and your comment.

Denise, as always very much appreciated.