Friday, January 30, 2015

Celebrate the Small Things: A Writer's Poem?

Excerpt from "Voices of the Night, Prelude" by Henry W. Longfellow, 1839

Sunlight In Deep Green Forest
Courtesy: http://www.freeimages.com/

. . . "Before me rose an avenue
Of tall and sombrous pines;
Abroad their fan-like branches grew,
And, where the sunshine darted through,
Spread a vapor soft and blue,
In Long and sloping lines.

And, falling on my weary brain, 
Like a fast-falling shower, 
The dreams of youth came back, again--
Low lispings of the summer rain, 
Dropping on the ripened grain,
As once upon the flower.

Visions of childhood! Stay, oh, stay!
Ye were so sweet and wild!


And distant voices seemed to say,
"It cannot be! They pass away!
Other themes demand thy lay;
Thou art no more a child!

. . . "Athwart the swinging branches cast,
Soft rays of sunshine pour;
Then comes the fearful wintry blast;
Pallid lips say, 'It is past!
We can return no more!'

"Look, then, into thine heart, and write!
Yes, into Life's deep stream!
All forms of sorrow and delight,
All solemn Voices of the Night,
That can soothe thee, or affright--
Be these henceforth thy theme."






Keep on writing . . . 








Thank you Lexa Cain for hosting this blog hop!
And co-hosts: L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge  
and Katie @ TheCyborgMom

12 comments:

  1. Love the poem and the photo. Longfellow is one of my favorites.

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  2. Same here, but I had not read Longfellow in many, many years. It feels as if I'm reading his poetry for the first time. Thanks for commenting!

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  3. "Athwart"? "Affright"? haha! The old English is so funny. Shakespeare amuses me too. I guess I'm a little lacking in the culture department. lol Thanks for the poem and have a great weekend! :)

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  4. If we all could celebrate the passage of youth in such poetic terms... Truly sublime!

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    1. Thanks again, Dixie. I like the part about youth passing but that life past can be savored with the pen.

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  5. This is beautifully written! Thanks for sharing!

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  6. Beautiful and exactly what a writer needs to read. Thanks for this!

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You could call me an eternal optimist, but I'm really just a dreamer. l believe in dream fulfillment, because 'sometimes' dreams come true. This is a blog about my journey as a writer and things that inspire and motivate me.