Tuesday 7 April 2020

William Wordsworth

On this day, two hundred and fifty years ago, William Wordsworth was born at Cockermouth in the Lake District, Cumberland. 
Reading Wordsworth's familiar line "I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o'er vales and hills" holds an added poignancy today as we enter into our third week of 'lockdown'. 

The last of the late daffodils are having a final flourish before taking their leave until next year. Natures restorative moments are all around for us to appreciate and enjoy.
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Currently life does feel like being trapped in a dark place with no light to be seen, but we must all slowly move forward. Soon we will reach the light and be in a better place.

50 comments:

  1. Of all flowers, the daffodils draws me to the light the most. Such cheerful and endearing blooms, nodding in the sunshine and heralding the Spring. Now more than ever, we treasure the beauty of nature. Be safe.

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    1. We look forward to seeing them again so much, and suddenly it is goodbye again until next year.

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  2. I was feeling a bit stir-crazy spending so much time at home until I I thought about all those who are living in one room efficiency apartments. Many in high rises unable to even step out for a bit of fresh air. I spent the whole day working in my garden and felt very grateful!

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    1. We are certainly fortunate to be able to work and wander in our own gardens - I never really appreciated this as much as I do now. It must be extremely hard to be stuck in an apartment, especially so for those who have children.

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  3. I love Wordsworth's daffodil poem and have a printed copy on my wall. I'm currently waiting for a pot of very fragrant narcissi to burst into bloom but there is nothing like a pure yellow daffodil to warm my heart. Please stay safe

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  4. I heard that Wordsworth originally wandered lonely as a cow, but Dorothy made him change it.

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  5. Yes our moves are limited helas, but we still have nature around to comfort us. Lovely pictures. Wordsworth is long ago I have read something of him, I think at highschool...

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  6. Hello Rosemary, It struck me how similar is the advice about Covid-19 with traditional advice for gardeners and agriculturists. The key is sanitation and distancing from potential infection. Gardeners must clean out all brush and fallen fruit which can harbor diseases and pests, and sometimes even root out plants (equivalent to quarantine) to keep infection away from healthy specimens, as with the boxwood blight. Likewise, commercial orchardists frequently remove potentially infected wild trees of the same type near their fields--again, the "social distancing" factor.
    --Jim

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    1. Hello Jim - that is a good apposite analogy for the current situation that we all find ourselves in.

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  7. Thanks for the brilliance of the daffodils and also the link to William Wordsworth. Interestingly, not having read the great poet in many, many years, I recently took an online course on Wordsworth, and enjoyed it very much. Stay well, Rosemary. These are trying times, but they will end at some point.

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    1. When the daffodils re-appear again next year, my hopes are that all will be well.

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  8. Beautiful are those daffodils, good to see actually.
    Take care, be safe and well.

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  9. Not sure how WW would have coped with self-isolating; he and his sister were very fond of their walks. However he was also a keen gardener so he might have been OK. Take care.

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    1. The Lake District would be a great place to self-isolate - it must looking beautiful with nobody around.

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  10. Dear Rosemary - Daffodils by Wordsworth is my first English poem I "could" recite by heart. I really love it. Whenever I visit daffodils fields, I remember the poem. I feel like that sweet fragrance wafting from your photos on my computer screen.

    Thank you for telling me the name of the little pink flower. I enlarged my photo to find the leaves are like clovers consisting of hearts. It is a pink oxalis as you wrote. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

    Yoko

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    1. Dear Yoko - I am pleased that you discovered the name of that little flower.
      Daffodils by Wordsworth is one of those poems that once you hear or read the words they are forever in your memory. I think that it is due to the pictures that he conjures up for us.

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  11. Dear Rosemary
    Have always loved this poem.
    Many years ago, while being driven by a gentleman farmer through the Welsh countryside dotted with large masses of daffodils, we simultaneously began citing this poem. The Gentleman was so pleased that a visitor from America knew his favorite poem.
    I'n still waiting for my daffodils to open. In the meantime your beautiful photo will have to do.

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    1. Dear Gina - I would like to think that by the time your daffodils are at the stage of mine, things in our world may have moved forward, and that we are all in a better place by then - but perhaps I am too hopeful.

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  12. I find it interesting that Wordsworth, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, and Billie Holiday all share the same birthday!

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  13. One of my favourite classic poems! Happy Birthday, WW!

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  14. Sadly, mine are already over for this spring - but it is wonderful knowing they always and I'm praying next year won't be any different after all this sad world is going through.

    Yes, as we've said these past few weeks - thankfully we do have a garden to step out into, sigh!
    Mary xx

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    1. Dear Mary - looking ahead and watching what new shoots are continually appearing in the garden is particularly rewarding at the moment.
      I know that we still have a long way to go with the virus, and that there will be huge problems as a result of the lockdown to industries and businesses. But, we will succeed, and we will move forward.

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  15. Dearest Rosemary,
    We all are being left with great works from poets and writers that were keen observers of nature and life as a whole.
    Yes, the way Mother Nature is rejuvenating itself at presents should make us look at the future brightly.
    Stay well and sending you hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Dear Mariette - I do hope that you and Pieter are coping alright with the current situation. Do both take care of yourselves💛

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    2. Dearest Rosemary, yes, we can use the time (and more!) for working on the manuscript... We stay put!
      Except this afternoon a doctor's appointment for having some stitches removed where a skin cancer got taken off.
      Stay well too!
      Mariette

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    3. I didn't realise - hope all is ok.

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  16. Lovely to see those daffodils. I am hoping my order of vegie seedlings will arrive today. No flower seedlings available during Lockdown. Time to get the beds ready. Take care and stay safe.

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    1. I am not such a successful veg grower as you - our garden sits on Cotswold oolitic limestone which is extremely hard to dig in to. We have to grow our tomatoes, and beans etc in large terracotta pots.

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  17. I have to confess not that much has changed in my life as I'm a bit of a loner anyway. I can still sit sunbathing and reading books in my garden, go shopping, and local walking as normal. Only drawback is if domestic items break down - no shops open to buy another, and most banks and building societies now shut up til the lock-down ends. Other than that it's a fairly normal month for me.

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    1. I am surprised that your banks and building societies are shut, ours are still open, but doing shorter hours.
      We have to hope that all of our domestic items keep on functioning - I don't know what I would do if any of them broke down.

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  18. Hi Rosemary, autumn is upon us in my neck of the woods but I've also been appreciating the daffodils appearing on my computer this past little bit from those in vernal climes, and thought the WW poem as just perfect for these times.

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    1. Thank you for visiting Pipistrello - I always find it strange to imagine that it is Autumn for you as we head off into summer and visa versa. It is a lovely thought to be able to wander lonely as a cloud whilst we are in lockdown, but times will change for us all eventually.

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  19. That William Wordsworth poem is one of my favourites. Once I was able to recite it by heart. I shall go back to it and try to remember it again. Daffodils give us such pleasure especially grown in quantity as in your delightful photo.

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    1. I really look forward to seeing the first daffodils, and then before you know it, off they go again until next year. Henceforth they will always remind me of this time in our history, each and every Spring to come.

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  20. This is my favorite poem that made me fall in love with daffodils :)

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    1. I sense that could be the case for many of us Ruby - thank you for your visit.

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  21. When the first daffodils appear in the spring, I always think of Wordsworth's poem. Yes, these days it's easy to become worried, but the light will return. This spring will be one for the history books.

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    1. You are right - 2020 will be a date all of us will remember and so will history.

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  22. Daffodils are such a lovely and welcome sight, mine are long gone, but confident they will be back next year . We need patience, now more than ever .

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    1. We do Jane - patience and time will tell.

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  23. Lovely words and a lovely post Rosemary...
    Have a Happy Easter and take care!
    Titti

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“You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you - you have to go to them sometimes”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh