A
slow steady rain had fallen intermittently throughout the day, but by 5:00 pm
the skies had cleared. Billowy clouds of
various shapes and sizes draped across the sky.
It had become that time of evening when the golden rays of the sun
spread across the landscape creating a Midas canvas upon which long shadows
emerged.
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The garden shed at Merry Mount |
Pastoral
The day's
grown old; the fainting sun
Has but a
little way to run,
And yet his
steeds, with all his skill,
Scarce lug
the chariot down the hill.
The shadows
now so long do grow,
That
brambles like tall cedars show;
Mole hills
seem mountains, and the ant
Appears a
monstrous elephant.
A very
little, little flock
Shades
thrice the ground that it would stock;
Whilst the
small stripling following them
Appears a
mighty Polypheme.
And now on
benches all are sat,
In the cool
air to sit and chat,
Till
Phoebus, dipping in the West,
Shall lead
the world the way to rest.
Charles Cotton
(1630-1687)
As
the sun slowly inched toward the horizon, the sky became a kaleidoscope of
color. I sat on the swing facing west, and
observed swallows gliding against a magnificent multi-hued backdrop of
color.
O boundless, boundless evening.
O
boundless, boundless evening.
Soon
the glow of long hills on the skyline will be gone,
Like
clear dream country now, rich-hued by sun.
O
boundless evening where the cornfields throw
The
scattered daylight back in an aureole.
Swallows
high up are singing, very small.
On
every meadow glitters their swift flight,
In
woods of rushes and where tall masts stand in brilliant bays.
Yet
in ravines beyond
Between
the hills already nests the night.
English Translation
Christopher Middleton (b. 1926)
Original German Text by Georg
The
great orb dropped below the horizon at 9:02 pm CST. As I observed the light and color fade from
the sky, I slowly walked to the barn to watch the bats as they departed their
lodge flitting and dancing into the night sky.
Suddenly, I noticed another light outlining a cloud. I watched as the near full moon slowly
emerged from the cloud displaying itself in silver splendor.
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Photo similar to my observation |
Oh boundless, bountiful evening!
CPW
Lazy, hazy days of a mid-summer's night!
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