poem

Thoughts and Things of Autumn 

| Forgotten Fields

https://youtu.be/bXOH_GzfGPA

Pastoral bliss

Autumn is a time when the earthy beiges of summer turn verdant green. In the countryside, where I am fortunate to reside, this change in the landscape marks the beginning of my favourite time of the year. As the season progresses, the wheat stands tall enough to blow in the wind. Their wavelike movement always reminds me of Winternag (Afrikaans for “winter’s night”), a poem by Eugène Marais. In it, he likens the grasses blowing in the wind to beckoning hands. And that is exactly how I experience them. They invite me; the fields call out to me! I am compelled to stand in their midst and revel in their beauty!

A poem

In the autumn of 2012, I listened almost exclusively to the music of July Skies. Their gentle blend of disarming instrumentals and melancholy vocals made me fall in love with my surroundings, over and over again. So much so that I was inspired to write Autumn, which I humbly share with you, here:

Autumn

I smell the wispy, rising smoke as autumn fires burn,
I feel the crispness of the air as shortened days return.
How the sky seems clearer,
Bluer in the cold;
How the green hills dearer
Than all of summer’s gold!

Mornings come with gentle mist that quietly greets the day,
All about the countryside the brightest hues are grey.
I need only wait a while
Before the hills appear;
I need only see them smile
My heart to fill with cheer!

I wonder at the long, thick grass that won’t give up the dew,
Midday finds them glistening still, in gentle sunlight, new!
Soon the day is ending,
Already evening falls;
To the moon ascending,
I hear a nightjar calls!

When the rainfall comes, the shallow rivers flood
Drizzle turns to torrents and moistened soil to mud.
Now and then the sun will show
Through heavy cloud to shine;
Now and then, the winding road
To make a silvery line!

FORGOTTEN FIELDS

You Are So Like A Flower (Du bist wie eine Blume)

| Forgotten Fields
A painting of a field of flowers
A Field of Flowers

An attempt at Impressionism

I love the vibrant colours of the Impressionists. Looking at the works of Claude Monet fills me with a genuine feeling of warmth and joy. I don’t pretend for a moment that my picture is anything as splendid as Monet’s (in fact, looking at it now, it’s rather dark and dull), but when I saw Hummelstein’s images of Fürth city park (Germany, 2014), I had to try a little digital impasto. (I used the Sketches app for iPad.)

Flowers, poetry, music and I

Images of flowers remind me of Robert Schumann’s art song, “Du bist wie eine Blume” (“You Are So Like A Flower”). I first heard it sung by Angela Gheorghiu. What a beautiful song, delicately sung by her, as if her voice was a flower itself. The words, a poem by Heinrich Heine, are achingly beautiful:

Du bist wie eine Blume

Du bist wie eine Blume,
So hold und schön und rein;
Ich schau’ dich an, und Wehmut
Schleicht mir ins Herz hinein.

Mir ist, als ob ich die Hände
Aufs Haupt dir legen sollt’,
Betend, daß Gott dich erhalte
So rein und schön und hold.

You Are So Like A Flower

You are so like a flower,
So fair and pure and fine;
I gaze on you, and sadness
Steals through the heart of mine.

It is, as though I should gently
Lay hands upon your hair,
Praying to God, that He keep you
So fine and pure and fair.

— Translation by Rolf-Peter Wille

FORGOTTEN FIELDS