Sunday, December 26, 2010

frolic architecture of the snow

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,Seems nowhere to alight: the whited airHides hill and woods, the river, and the heaven,And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end.


The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosedIn a tumultuous privacy of storm.


Come see the north wind's masonry.
Out of an unseen quarry evermoreFurnished with tile, the fierce artificerCurves his white bastions with projected roofRound every windward stake, or tree, or door.


Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he for number or proportion.
Mockingly, On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;
A swan-like form invests the hiddden thorn;Fills up the famer's lane from wall to wall,
Maugre the farmer's sighs; and at the gateA tapering turret overtops the work.


And when his hours are numbered, and the world
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,
Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished ArtTo mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,
Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work,The frolic architecture of the snow.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Snowstorm
1835 [1841]

On Christmas night snow came, a ticklish, caressing kind of snow. The kind that brushes your cheek for a moment, before settling down to melt into your skin, crystalline flakes catching the light, catching the wind, swirling and sparkling like tiny shards of glass glitter through the trees. Overnight the snow built it's crystal castles and offered it's wild creation up to the day, but as quickly as the sky built this frolic architecture, with equal speed it starts to melt away.

(Amy's depiction of our Merry Merrick Christmas is so sweet, give it a read!)

9 comments:

sheila said...

love that 'enclosed in a tumultuous privacy of storm'. lovely images of snowflakes! your writing is equally lovely to read :)

Anonymous said...

I was mesmorized by your magical photographs. How did you do them with a little digital camera!?!

Plus your writing was every bit as memorable and poetic as Ralpie's.

WOW!

N said...

Snow in the night. How eerie and whimsical it all is. So beautiful Micha. And I'd have to say, Emerson's poem is, as always, beautifully written, but your words paint a picture so majestic I love them more. :)

Happy New Year!

Iva Messy said...

so beautiful!!!

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones! I hope that 2011 is an amazing year for you and yours!

enid and edgar said...

Quite magical! As you are. Happy New Year, sweetie!

And, I'd love to send you Amelia's measurements!

Keep cozy.

Anonymous said...

I keep coming back to your winter scene... words and wonder in Awe!

Micha Merrick said...

wow, thanks for all your sweet words of encouragement... I'm touched.

Anonymous said...

I think, forevermore, when I'm surrounded by a swirling night snow, I'll remember your pictures and prose.

That's how good they were!

muebles en alcobendas said...

To my mind everyone may read it.

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