Friday, April 9, 2021

Juxtaposition

Sometimes, nature takes an unexpected turn. We saw that many times this year. I decided to take two seasonal images and place them side by side to analyze the changes and write a comparison through poetry for National Poetry Month. Follow my thinking as I honor the whimsical nature of nature during March and April. 

I have seen the Lady April bringing the daffodils, bringing the springing grass and the soft warm April rain. -John Mansfield

surprise storm shock earth
dainty daffodils droop
perky ones pose
©CV, 2021

Photos by Barbara VanIderstine (PA)
& Carol Varsalona (VA)

This year, nature played an April Fool's joke? The photo to the left was taken on April Fool's Day while the one to the right was shot in March.  Winter switched places with spring but the daffodils draped in golden robes stood their ground. 

Then, my heart with pleasure fills and dances with the daffodils.
-William Wordsworth

In 1665, Robert Herrick wrote a poem, To Daffodils.
You can listen to it by clicking on the image.


This week, Tabatha Yeatts is the host of Poetry Friday. She shares her National Poetry Month project of a bilingual poem collection and invites all to join the Annual Summer Poem Swap.



For National Poetry Month, I am writing poetry as many days as I can while I am unpacking boxes and organizing my new home. I hope to unveil Winter's Embrace 2021 Gallery of Artistic Expressions also.

10 comments:

  1. The weather this year hasn't been sure what it's doing! I'm glad your daffs withstood it! And such lovely imagery of daffodils... we don't often hear the Herrick poem when Wordsworth is right there, but I love it, too. Thanks!

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  2. I saw my first daffodils this week, Carol, but now our weather changes again & next week there's a chance of snow. March & April are not easy but also hold the gladness of beginnings! Perhaps it's a test for our resilience? Thanks for the extra Herrick poem, too! Enjoy the weekend!

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  3. Daffodils do brighten the earth with their existence - as do poems, and there is always a poem to be found in nature. Your comparison approach is intriguing, Carol! I wonder if those dainty daffodils bounced back?

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  4. I always think that flowers will be ruined by a short spring snow, but they do survive, like your daffodils. My first son was born on April Fool's day so it's a special day in our family, and a humorous birthday. Herrick's poem is so mournful and lovely.

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    1. Janice, you are the first person to tell me that you celebrate an April 1st birthday in your family. It might be fun to write a humorous poem about the day.

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  5. Snow on daffodils is quite the April Fool's joke (but not one that I got to photograph this year.) Love the juxtaposition.

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  6. It's so true. April is full of its juxtapositions. Maybe it is fitting it begins with a fool's day. Seeing these pictures side by side really spoke to all that we see in this month. Loved the way you set these two lines apart:

    dainty daffodils droop
    perky ones pose

    Yep!

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  7. Oh those full-of-personality daffodils. Playful and expressive. Lovely to see them side by side in their juxtoposition.

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  8. THere's a poignant beauty even in the drooping daffodils, isn't there. Love this, Carol. The beauty isn't really what's THERE, it's how we react to whatever is there...

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