"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air..." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Monday, 25 January 2010

Jack Frost

I came across this beautiful poem today and it reminded me of our beautiful frost paintings Jack Frost left for us earlier in the winter.




Jack Frost
by Gabriel Setoun


The door was shut, as doors should be,
Before you went to bed last night;
Yet Jack Frost has got in, you see,
And left your window silver white.

He must have waited till you slept;
And not a single word he spoke,
But pencilled o'er the panes and crept
Away again before you woke.

And now you cannot see the hills
Nor fields that stretch beyond the lane;
But there are fairer things than these
His fingers traced on every pane.

Rocks and castles towering high;
Hills and dales, and streams and fields;
And knights in armor riding by,
With nodding plumes and shining shields.
And here are little boats, and there
Big ships with sails spread to the breeze;
And yonder, palm trees waving fair
On islands set in silver seas,
And butterflies with gauzy wings;
And herds of cows and flocks of sheep;
And fruit and flowers and all the things
You see when you are sound asleep.

For, creeping softly underneath
The door when all the lights are out,
Jack Frost takes every breath you breathe,
And knows the things you think about.

He paints them on the window-pane
In fairy lines with frozen steam;
And when you wake you see again
The lovely things you saw in dream.


8 comments:

  1. This poem is beautiful Kelly:) Makes me think about winter... Our weather is quite warm at the moment here in South Africa...

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  2. Lovely, Kelly! I could look at your pictures of Jack Frost's art forever :D Stay warm over there & enjoy the incredible beauty of winter!

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  3. Jack Frost MUST live in your backyard. I cannot believe the beautiful frost you see at your house.

    :)Lisa

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  4. when we lived at my mil's briefly we often had frost on the windows, but here with double glazing we don't. I read about Jack Frost's art work from Little House in the Big Woods and it didn't make sense to the children - now they have seen it here. Thanks :o)

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  5. Hi Linda. Glad you enjoyed that lovely poem. Send me some of that warmth! My African bones can't take much more cold this winter!

    Hi Jen and Lisa
    You know, strangely enough but true, we have a little felt Jack Frost I made about four years ago that we add to our Winter Nature table each year. The boys are really very fond of him and this year he has simply gone missing! I have looked everywhere for him and the boys refuse for me to make a new one. They want that old familiar Jack Frost back. He must have magicked himself to life and he must create those beautiful works of art. I wonder if we will ever find that felt Jack Frost!!

    Lucy
    Thanks for such a lovely comment. I am so happy that your children now can see frost pictures. I remember reading about Frost pictures to my children prior to living in this house and we also couldn't really visualise these. They are magical!

    Best wishes
    Kelly

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  6. How beautiful Kelly...the poem and windows.

    lisa

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  7. Your photos are fantastic! So sweet and ethereal. You found the perfect poem for them~

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