Monday, December 13, 2010

"the darkling thrush"

(5x7)
County Mayo scene for this month's Virtual Paintout. I found a few lovely scenes that I'd like to paint, though, like others, I wandered further afield than the locale chosen for the paintout, Galway, into Clare and Mayo too.

Below is another poinsettia; the final version of one of the ones started in class.
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And a poem emailed to me by Poets.org that seemed just right for this cold, windy, gray day:


The Darkling Thrush
by Thomas Hardy

I leant upon a coppice gate
    When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
    The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
    Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
    Had sought their household fires.

The land's sharp features seemed to be
    The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
    The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
    Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
    Seemed fervourless as I.

At once a voice arose among
    The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
    Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
    In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
    Upon the growing gloom.

So little cause for carolings
    Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
    Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
    His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
    And I was unaware.

9 comments:

Carol Blackburn said...

There is beauty in simplicity...and thanks for sharing the poem, Laura, a truly stirring composition.

Anonymous said...

I like the County Mayo watercolor. It has lovely soft, lost edges and the colors are nice and subtle. Nice poinsettias also. You are so good at flowers.
Jean

RH Carpenter said...

Lovely paintings and lovely poem :)

Sandra Busby said...

Both paintings are so lovely! I should try some small ones like this - perhaps then watercolour wouldn't be quite so daunting!

A Brush with Color said...

What a great post, Laura! I'm really enjoying your landscape and this poem as well. Your muse is back at it, that's for sure!

A Brush with Color said...

ps
I didn't mention the poinsettia--I think yours are prettier than any I've seen--love how you handled these.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Laura,

Superb paintings. I love both the scene and the poinsettia. Such lush, loose beauties both. Then the poem describes this freezing day magnificently.

XOBarbara

Murilo S Romeiro said...

your watercolours are awesome!
Congratulations!
:o)

Teresa said...

Love both of these. Your colors are always so fresh and clean... good for you!