This was the scene yesterday morning when we had a sudden hail shower - people went scuttling for the shelter of umbrellas, doorways, bus shelters and schoolgirls diving under their blazers.HAIL to thee, blithe spirit!
Bird thou never wert—
That from heaven or near it
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.
Above is the christmas card type scene yesterday morning and below ....
here is one young woman who was creating quite a stir in the centre of Belfast yesterday ... but glamorous and all as she looks ... I really don't think those shoes were built for this type of weather.
This is how the sky looked last night on our way to QFT. Very dramatic.
... this was the view from the bus stop this morning. All mist and mellow fruitfulness.
... and this is the sun just starting to break through the fog as I approached my office.
AUTUMN by Kalidasa
THE autumn comes, a maiden fair
In slenderness and grace,
With nodding rice-stems in her hair
And lilies in her face.
In flowers of grasses she is clad;
And as she moves along,
Birds greet her with their cooing glad
Like bracelets' tinkling song.
A diadem adorns the night
Of multitudinous stars;
Her silken robe is white moonlight,
Set free from cloudy bars;
And on her face (the radiant moon)
Bewitching smiles are shown:
She seems a slender maid, who soon
Will be a woman grown.
Over the rice-fields, laden plants
Are shivering to the breeze;
While in his brisk caresses dance
The blossomed-burdened trees;
He ruffles every lily-pond
Where blossoms kiss and part,
And stirs with lover's fancies fond
The young man's eager heart.
This English translation of "Autumn" was composed by Arthur W. Ryder (1877-1938)On a horse called Autumn
(For Maureen) by Brian Patten
On a horse called autumn
among certain decaying things
she rides inside me, for
no matter where I move
this puzzled woman sings
of nude horsemen, breeched
in leather,
of stables decaying near
where once
riders came,
and where now alone
her heart journeys, among
lies I made real.
Now riding in truth
what alterations can I make
knowing nothing will change?
Things stay the same:
such journeys as hers
are the ones I care for.
