the six bells of spring

the first bell is silver,

and breathing darkness i think only of the long scythe of time.

edward redfield a brook in winter

the second bell is crimson,

and i think of a holiday night, with rockets

furrowing the sky with red, and a soft shatter of stars.

james ensor fireworks

the third bell is saffron and slow,

and i behold a long sunset over the sea

with wall on wall of castled cloud and glittering balustrades.

henry moore sunset coast

the fourth bell is the colour of bronze,

i walk by a frozen lake in the dun light of dusk:

muffled crackings run in the ice,

trees creak, birds fly.

j.e.h. macdonald early evening winter

the fifth bell is cold clear azure,

delicately tinged with green:

one golden star hangs melting in it,

and towards this, sleepily, i go.

childe hassam the evening star

the sixth bell is as if a pebble

had been dropped into a deep sea far above me . . .

rings of sound ebb slowly into the silence.

childe hassam detail from "the west wind, isle of shoals"

from improvisations on light and snow

conrad aiken