Following in the footsteps of Christina Rossetti

I wish I could remember the first day,
first hour, first moment of your meeting me;
If bright or dim the season it might be;
Summer or Winter for aught I can say.
So, unrecorded it did slip away,
So blind was I to see and to foresee,
So dull to mark the budding of my tree
That would not blossom, yet, for many a May.

If only I could recollect it!
Such a day of days! I let it come and go
As traceless as a thaw of bygone snow.
It seemed to mean so little, meant so much!
If only now I could recall that touch,
First touch of hand in hand! - Did one but know!

Christina Rossetti 1830 - 1894

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My Reflecting on a Day Spent With You.

How warmly I remember that first day
first hour, first moment of you finding me
Never would I have imagined that our paths should cross
but there you were . . . charming me
Whether it was bright or dim escaped me
for I was so in awe of thee
It was a day in December, a Summer's day for me
but the bitter cold of Winter was still about thee
This day for me would not go unrecorded
nor its memory slip away
For so palpable was your effect on me . . .
Never was I blind to see or feel
the blossoming of my heart
For like the petals of a flower
my love would bloom for thee
And I did foresee that I could truly love thee . . .
You had captivated me
And by the Springtime
when your May trees were all in bud
The beauty of your words
had transported me to thee
I can remember for it was a day like no other
I would never let it go
For its memory stayed within my heart
etched there for eternity . . .
To walk in this place with you
was everything to me
Your handsome face, your smile
our warmest words exchanged
So sweet to have you close to me
To be in your presence
you meant so much to me . . .
I do recall that first touch
how could I forget?
As we walked side by side
our hands softly touched
Such a feeling of sweet, fleeting intimacy
And from that day you held my heart
and I knew it would always be yours . . .
I wished this day would never end
to be with you forever
To wander in your garden faire
and wile away the hours
To touch the leaves and flowers
just you and I, together . . .
But days like these are fleeting
and separation tears at my heart
Such a feeling of sadness and regret
when we two did part . . .

Poem by Dianne D. ♥

Image : Claude Monet - Water Lilies and Clouds

An Award from my Friend Little Lamb

Thank you for thinking of me Little Lamb and giving me this award!

In order for me to accept this award, I have to tell five things about myself and pick other bloggers to give this award to . . . I can think of many other bloggers to whom I would like to give this award but it seems they have received it already . . . but if anyone else would like to accept this, then please do, you are most welcome.

1. I love the changing colours, the textures, the fragrances that each new season brings us ... there is always something of beauty to see in the natural world or the garden. Each new season is a wonder in itself whether it is the freshness in the air, its soft rain and new growth of Spring, the warm, balmy days and nights of Summer with its colourful flowers and heady scents, the cool winds and warm colours of Autumn/Fall, with its lovely carpet of golden, hued leaves upon the ground and the frosty mornings and cold days and nights of Winter, with her magnificent sunsets.

2. I love spending time in my garden and derive a great deal of pleasure from tending my plants and watching them grow from small seeds and seedlings into their full potential of beauty as mature plants and trees and especially when I find a new plant emerging from the soil, something that has been brought to me, a gift from my little bird friends.

3. I love to visit art galleries and look at the beautiful subjects, rich colours and textures of the paintings and drawings that artists have created from their imagination and their great talents ...
I love most subjects that are painted but I think my favourites would be those of landscapes or nature.

4. I love visiting the library or book stores and sitting there with a whole lot of reference books on art and looking at the beautiful colour plates, Architecture and the wonders of many great houses and gardens throughout the centuries, History, especially English, Travel books and looking at photos of exotic locations and places I would like to visit and Botany books with their beautiful illustrations of plants and their structure.

5. I like to go for a drive in my car and discover new places, follow the road to where it takes me; in the past I have found some very beautiful places, such as beaches and lighthouses, old houses and their beautiful gardens, antique shops and galleries in quaint little townships, cafes and friendly people, beautiful landscapes, parks and trees, which I love to explore and admire.

There are some great old sandstone and convict made sandstock brick houses in the inner suburbs of Sydney to explore, I just like to wander around the streets looking at these lovely old terraced houses with their cast iron lace, verandah railings and decorative sandstone facades. These houses are owned by all kinds of people, some wealthy some not. Then you have some of the more historic buildings such as Government House, Vaucluse House, the Powerhouse Museum, the National Maritime Museum, the Art Gallery of New South Wales , Hyde Park, the Royal Botanic Gardens and further afield Old Government House at Parramatta ... plus so much more to take in and enjoy. . . these are places I love to visit and explore . . . ♥

Kissed by the Autumn Sunset

Two views of my Scribbley Gum, (Eucalyptus Haemostoma) , looking up into the canopy as the leaves and branches are bathed in the golden light of the setting sun.

The leaves of Autumn turn to gold

in the light of the setting sun
Bathed in the glow of her final embers
in a sky of softest blue
In this light they shine and shimmer
golds of every hue . . .

Dianne D. ♥



Please enlarge images for a more detalied view

Summer has Gone ...

The leaves on the Mock Orange are starting to turn and soon the branches will be bare ...
the deep green of the Viburnum leaves have yet to change and that in itself will be subtle.

Just a small amount of rain will bring new growth to the Grevillea groundcover, the Dwarf Apple gum and the Coastal Rosemary.

The pale green variegated leaves of the Prostanthera Ovafolium take on an added softness of colour in Autumn, later some of the leaves will display a soft peach hue ... but their wonderful fragrance still lingers even in the cooler air.

The Persoonia welcomed a lengthy Autumn shower and rewarded me with this bright green, new growth.

The Banksia Marginata displays her brush like flower amongst the other plants in the garden surrounding the Eucalyptus Haemostoma/ Scribbley Gum.

More flowers on the Banksia. You can see that in Autumn when the sun is lower in the sky that the light changes the bright green foliage into a softer green as the plants ready themselves for the dormancy of the Winter to come.

The leaves on the Japanese Maple are changing and taking on their golden hue and will soon blow away in the Autumn winds and leave the branches bare.

Not many flowers in my garden at present but my Autumn Crocus always put on a happy display with their white petals and bright yellow stamens ... they seem to thrive on neglect and seem to kindly tolerate the weeds around them, which I have yet to remove.

Just two of my daily garden visitors eating grass seeds, I took this photo this afternoon, the rest of the group were yet to arrive ... they are Rainbow Lorikeets and have beautifully coloured feathers and a lovely song to sing. These two are males, the females are still beautiful but their feathers are not quite as colourful.

Summer has gone ... the days they grow shorter and the shadows grow longer as the Sun sits lower in her southern sky ... there is a feeling of coolness and quiet as the Earth prepares to rest.

If you wish to enlarge the images please left click on the photo ... ♥

What Lips my Lips have Kissed ... Sonnet XLIII

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,

I have forgotten, and what arms have lain

Under my head till morning; but the rain

Is full of ghosts tonight that tap and sigh

Upon the glass and listen for reply,

And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain

For unremembered lads that not again

Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.

Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,

Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,

Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:

I cannot say what loves have come and gone,

I only know that summer sang in me

A little while, that in me sings no more.

I really admire this poem, I went searching for it last evening at a friend's site for I remembered that she had posted it some time ago ... the name of the author had escaped me.

I have not had many lads in my life to forget, but last night there was a quiet pain of remembrance in my heart as the wind did blow the rain against my window, as if it was tapping softly on the glass to remind me of memories of times past and recent ... times which have now gone.

I followed the trail of the raindrops with my finger tips upon the glass and watched the wind and rain blow unrelenting around the branches of my tree.

For Autumn is now here and the cold of Winter will soon be upon us and when I stand lonely by my tree I will wonder if love and Summer will ever sing their song again for me ... or fill this sad emptiness within my heart ... ♥

Sonnet XLIII - Edna St.Vincent Millay - 1892 - 1950

'The Black Brook' - John Singer Sargent - c 1908

She Walks In Beauty ...

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softy lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron. 1788-1824

Image: Postcard Illustration
Samuel Loren Schmucker. 1879-1921

Are You Gone Forever?

Are you gone forever?

How long has it been?
The days I have counted are many
Deprived of your words
I cry myself to sleep each night
Tears, like petals falling ... slowly, softly

I never thought your last words were "Goodbye"
I always thought you would return ...
I grow weary of searching in shadows
where once I would find you
watching over me
But now you are not there, just emptiness
And I have no hope ...I miss you

I wonder where you are
I envy the moonlight which shines on you
I wonder when you look upon it
do you ever think of me
For I might be there watching
at the same time thinking of you
Looking from my part of the sphere

I envy those who share your days
do they need your words more than I ?
I envy the cup from which you sip
for your lips have touched it
but I have never felt your kiss upon mine ...

Your words to me were like water to my thirst
and now I go unquenched
My heart to dry up and wither
like a flower who needs the rain
Now I will just fade away
like so many neglected flowers ...

Hope, like petals falling away ... softly
floating sadly on the breeze.

Poem by Dianne D.

Painting 'Boreas' - John William Waterhouse

Boreas: Ancient Greek personification of the Northern wind.