Walking from Brimington by Inkersall Green, I happened upon West Wood where the bluebells were hazy beneath the trees - like waves that had just ebbed in from a lilac blue ocean. They defied photography and this springtime multitude - a mauve assembly of Antwerp blue and sapphire and robin's egg blue and all those other blues I cannot name - were just drifting in the woods...
1916
I left you in the bluebell time
Afore that summer's foliage
Carpeted those paths we walked
In shadow.
I clasped you by a gnarled beech tree
And felt your urgent heart
Against my chest -
And the lovely bluebells
Hung like mist
And life seemed like a story
Of hope and yes, of love...
But I left you in the bluebell time
For Cannock Chase
And khaki games of war
No bluebell kisses
And no words to say
Those awful things we saw.
Beautiful poem and beautiful photographs. But waves flood or flow in. When they ebb, they go out.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bob. But where does the ebb tide go? Besides, the sound of "ebb" had more appeal.
DeleteA sad poem but beautiful pictures to compensate. I've never managed to do Bluebells justice.
ReplyDeleteThanks Adrian. That's one of the best bluebell sites I have ever come across - and that was purely by chance.
DeleteThe wood looks enchanted and enchanting! It will all be gone by the time I'll get to Yorkshire (in 4 1/2 weeks), but hopefully, one year I'll manage to time my annual visit so that I can see the bluebells in all their glory, too.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about how they defied photography. When I took the picture of the wood carpeted in anemona, it was similarly difficult to capture on camera what my eyes really saw.
In your Saturday walk post, you were sure that awakening plant life was ahead of itself this year. The same is true of our bluebells. Usually they only bloom in May as my photographic records confirm. You are so right that human eyes see better than cameras.
DeleteWhat lovely images to wake up to.
ReplyDeleteThe ground cover in my Massachusetts woods is usually ferns, which can be quite pretty in large groupings but they can't hold a candle to your bluebells.
Thank you Marty. I wish the bluebells lasted longer but they are only here for a short time before dying back till next year. I went out again today with my wife in the nearby Ecclesall Woods and saw yet more lovely bluebell glades. It fills your heart with glee.
DeleteCan't you just see those lovers leaning up against that tree? Cannock Chase looks like a lovely place on its website. But what does it have to do with war? Or are you taking poetic license? Inkersall Green looks a lovely place on Google Maps. I don't believe I have ever been on a walk with you in the Chesterfield District before.
ReplyDeleteCan we take a walk in the Summer Wood again some day soon? I'll bring lunch.
MT - Cannock Chase is a heathland near Stafford and during World War One it was where soldiers undertook some basic training before heading off to the trenches of France and Belgium. There is still evidence of trenches and rifle ranges etc around Cannock Chase.
DeleteAnd we can go for a walk in that Summer Wood again one day but let's keep it secret! I'll bring the blanket - you bring the champagne and strawberries.
Words and pictures...both very beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWords and pictures yes - but what about the photographer Lee?
DeleteBeautiful images and beautiful words. I love seeing blankets of bluebells but, as you say, they are so quickly gone.
ReplyDeleteThe main 'rules' for capturing bluebells are to go after rain, use a polariser, frame the shot within trees, go in good light, shoot into the sun, take some shots low and widen the aperture to f2.8 or 4. You seem to have hit most of them and got some lovely results.
I never realised that you were the new Annie Liebovitz Elizabeth!
DeleteBeautiful and the simple contrasting with ugliness and the complexity of emotions. Masterful.
ReplyDelete