St Catherines, Niton
Along the coast, a thick white fog,
Beneath a soft blue sky:
And o’er the white and misty cliffs
A silver moon rode high;
While radiant through the vap’rous haze
In a sheen of golden light
The rising sun rose calm and fair
Dissolving star-clad night.
We walked in silence
Thro’ the still, high woods,
With the smell of the sea and the pines:
And the soft wet earth and dripping trees
Glisten’d bright with the sparkling rime.
And suddenly thro’ the clearing mist,
We glimpsed the wrinkling sea,
And watched in muted wonder
As a gleaming gull soared free.
Pure and white against the blue,
It winged the ethereal heights;
A spirit of the viewless winds,
Like poetry in flight.
And she….
She breathless stood, with parted lips
And a soft warm breeze moved her hair,
And I saw in her lovely, spell-bound eyes
That a glory was shining there.
I remember still – does she? does she?
The tang of the wind in the pines,
And the sailing moon and misty cliffs,
And the sound of the whispering sea.
And shall I forget – shall I ever forget
As laughing we ran thro’ the Chine:
And how I became an immortal
When she rested her lips upon mine?
I envy you your gift with words (but I think I said that already). You are describing the immortality of a recollection, of a time, a place and a person, the kind that’s etched in our memory till we die. And what a fine job you do at that!
Where do you live?
Lovely to hear from you, and thank you again, Rachel, for all your very kind comments.
I think you deserve all the praise, however. Who would ever be able to tell that English was not your home language. You write it beautifully (and look at the dreadful mistake I made yesterday! When I read it back I could hardly believe that I’d actually made such an elementary error: must be old age or something – or I can always say Dingo wrote it. I blame him for everything!!!!)
I live (or spiritiually exist!) in Cape Town and heartily hate it. I used to live (and rejoice at every day) on the Isle of Wight until fate (?) very cruelly sent me to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) for 30 years and then South Africa for another 30! My life (stupidly) has been one long garment of nostalgia and homesickness! All my own fault, no doubt – or rather Dingo’s!!!!!!!!!
I do hope that whatever was wrong with you has now been put right.
Super hearing from you.
Very, very lovely.
Thank you Stephany. Very kind of you and much appreciated. Hope you’re keeping well.
very beautiful poem imaged by your words. bravo
Thank you so much for your kind words. Coming from you I really appreciate it.