How sweet to be thus nestling deep in boughs,
Upon an ashen stoven pillowing me;
Faintly are heard the ploughmen at their ploughs,
But not an eye can find its way to see.
The sunbeams scarce molest me with a smile,
So thick the leafy armies gather round;
And where they do, the breeze blows cool the while,
Their leafy shadows dancing on the ground.
Full many a flower, too, wishing to be seen,
Perks up its head the hiding grass between.-
In mid-wood silence, thus, how sweet to be;
Where all the noises, that on peace intrude,
Come from the chittering cricket, bird, and bee,
Whose songs have charms to sweeten solitude.
John Clare: In Hilly-Wood
From The Village Minstrel, 1821
Note: Waking early, in dark still, re-centering after last night's peculiarly rancorous presidential debate, I'm hoping for a peaceful Pennsylvania woodland day close to Paoli, home of wood master (sculpture; furniture; woodcuts) Wharton Esherick. Touch wood always.
