the candid psalm of silence rises whitely burning
the icy wastes are lit with sunset's radiant yearning
white altars stretch beneath the changeless icy skies
a prayer, not suppliant, a psalm, not voiced, arises
italicized words by konstantin balmont from "in the white land"
20 comments:
I love those shadows turning into curves....
But is there quickening underfoot? I'm feeling it here in DC for the first time ... spring rumbling around underground, beginning its push to the surface.
annie those grasses are in my garden. i leave them there for the winter because they break up the visual plane and then also for their shadows. steven
reya - i understand that the quickening will arrive in its first iteration sometime next week. at the moment a light snow is falling, it's around nine below with a wind that howls ever so slightly as it looks for ways in. steven
beautiful photos steven.
thankyou very much ellen. steven
Once agai, beautiful shadows in the pristine snow, steven.
almost looks like bamboo on snow with shadows
lovely words and stunning photos
winter color they call the grasses left behind
You have illustrated these beautifully haunting words, perfectly. Magical.
weaver the shadows are so striking when you see them. it's hard to pass up on sharing them. steven
hi suz! "winter colour" - that's exactly what it is. i love the leaves that stay behind. their pale yellow is so soft and unlikely on a winter's day. steven
aguja thankyou very much. steven
Images like this make a person absolutely hate cars and trucks and dirty road snow, don't they? The curving shadows are woven loosely into gothic church window shapes. Your snow looks like refined sugar. I love the broken sunlight on the reeds. Lovely and rhythmic. Was it a prayer for spring's arrival?
you voiced this psalm beautifully!
I imagine Balmont would choose exactly those exquisite images to accompany his words. Well done!
hello linda! i'm immersed in report card writing at the moment and so i'm surfacing or more properly diving deeper through the blog for a little bit. the snow has undergone daytime sunshine and very cold air - the effect is to dry it out, to take the edges off the six points and reduce the shape to a more compact structure. i'm drawn to the upper arches of church windows and supporting elements. that goes right back to my childhood. i know that i look for that in the reeds, grasses, and treeforms i see each day. thankyou for seeing my seeing linda. steven p.s. i'm not praying for spring yet but my body is ready for its softness that's for sure. steven
pauline - thankyou . . . songs sing themselves through the singer! steven
jo your comment makes me wonder at how it would be if when you draw a work of art or someone's writing into another context, they had a say in it. so balmont could leave a comment here!!! oh boy says i!!! steven
You are a master at pairing words with images, Steven! Haunting, mesmerizing thoughts by Balmont. Thank you for them, they have me contemplating silence in a whole new way today...
thankyou terresa, if it's a photograph, the image always arrives first. then the words. if it's a painting, the words arrive first, then the painting. steven
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