Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Thursday Theme=Fire

Sun Setting in San Diego


Song of Nature
by Ralph Waldo Emerson (click to learn bio)
(1803-1882)

Mine are the night and morning,
The pits of air, the gulf of space,
The sportive sun, the gibbous moon,
The innumerable days.

I hid in the solar glory,
I am dumb in the pealing song,
I rest on the pitch of the torrent,
In slumber I am strong.

No numbers have counted my tallies,
No tribes my house can fill,
I sit by the shining Fount of Life,
And pour the deluge still;

And ever by delicate powers
Gathering along the centuries
From race on race the rarest flowers,
My wreath shall nothing miss.

And many a thousand summers
My apples ripened well,
And light from meliorating stars
With firmer glory fell.

I wrote the past in characters
Of rock and fire the scroll,
The building in the coral sea,
The planting of the coal.

And thefts from satellites and rings
And broken stars I drew,
And out of spent and aged things
I formed the world anew;

What time the gods kept carnival,
Tricked out in star and flower,
And in cramp elf and saurian forms
They swathed their too much power.

Time and Thought were my surveyors,
They laid their courses well,
They boiled the sea, and baked the layers
Or granite, marl, and shell.

But he, the man-child glorious,--
Where tarries he the while?
The rainbow shines his harbinger,
The sunset gleams his smile.

My boreal lights leap upward,
Forthright my planets roll,
And still the man-child is not born,
The summit of the whole.

Must time and tide forever run?
Will never my winds go sleep in the west?
Will never my wheels which whirl the sun
And satellites have rest?

Too much of donning and doffing,
Too slow the rainbow fades,
I weary of my robe of snow,
My leaves and my cascades;

I tire of globes and races,
Too long the game is played;
What without him is summer's pomp,
Or winter's frozen shade?

I travail in pain for him,
My creatures travail and wait;
His couriers come by squadrons,
He comes not to the gate.

Twice I have moulded an image,
And thrice outstretched my hand,
Made one of day, and one of night,
And one of the salt sea-sand.

One in a Judaean manger,
And one by Avon stream,
One over against the mouths of Nile,
And one in the Academe.

I moulded kings and saviours,
And bards o'er kings to rule;--
But fell the starry influence short,
The cup was never full.

Yet whirl the glowing wheels once more,
And mix the bowl again;
Seethe, fate! the ancient elements,
Heat, cold, wet, dry, and peace, and pain.

Let war and trade and creeds and song
Blend, ripen race on race,
The sunburnt world a man shall breed
Of all the zones, and countless days.

No ray is dimmed, no atom worn,
My oldest force is good as new,
And the fresh rose on yonder thorn
Gives back the bending heavens in dew.


Sun Setting in San Diego



Sunset in San Diego

25 comments:

Joanne said...

Gorgeous fire depictions, of flames 93 million miles away, no less. Beautiful sunsets.

Feisty Crone said...

Wonderful photos, Dakota Bear, and a great poem.

Dakota Bear said...

Joanne-I took a series of pictures as the sun set while I was in San Diego after my grandson's wedding in October 2008.

Gran-That was the evening after Debo Hobo's son's wedding.

Liza B. Gonzalez said...

What a wonderful poem. Love the beautiful sunsets.

Dakota Bear said...

Liza-happy you enjoyed them.

Ronda Laveen said...

All went so well toghter. Thanks so much. The poem is as beautiful as the photos. I had to read it several times to soak it all in. Happy TT.

Kris McCracken said...

Where did the sun go?

Ruth said...

Fabulous Nature.

And I do love Emerson, haven't read him since college.

Anonymous said...

DB nice snaps and Emerson poem. I vow to get more sunset( or maybe sunrise )snaps on hols!

California Girl said...

Love the photos and Emerson poem.

What beach in SD?

Tess Kincaid said...

Beautiful!

Brian Miller said...

nice play. love the progression of the pics. Emerson is the icing on the cake!

The Clever Pup said...

You took those pictures!! Stunning.

For a guy called Waldo he writes a pretty good poem.

Reyjr said...

lol, your last line made me think what the past tense for sunset was...

hmm...

Gabby said...

Sunsat perhaps?

Great photos and an amazing poem. I'll definitely be returning to your post to read it again. Have a great day.

Dot-Com said...

Wow, those pics are amazing. Are they your own?

Wings1295 said...

Very nice poem, and very nice pics.

Colette Amelia said...

Great photos and poem...I love that guy!

Baino said...

Pretty, pretty, pretty and I've always loved the term 'gibbus moon'. Unfortunately, I'm down in a dip and can't get photos of the sunset from my house which is a shame because I can often see it glowing red between the trees.

Mrsupole said...

Those truly are some beautiful pictures and I love San Diego. It is one of the best places in our country for a constant weather pattern. I lived in La Jolla for a while and worked in SD. I sometimes wish I had stayed down there.

Really nice poem. Thank you for posting it for us.

God bless.

Michael Rawluk said...

Lovely photos to go along with that poem.

Anonymous said...

Very good pics. I hope Nature finds what it's looking for in that poem.

Debo Hobo said...

I didn't even have time to enjoy the sunsets when we there for my son's wedding. I am glad you got these photos they are spectacular.

tony said...

Wonderful . Great Post.Hey! Have A Fine Weekend.Regards
tony.

CocoDivaDog said...

Hi Dak,
Thrilling photos!
*applause*
How are your Egypt trip plans shoring up?
I'm excited for you!