All Nature Has A Feeling

 All Nature Has a Feeling

by John Clare 

All nature has a feeling: woods, fields, brooks
Are life eternal: and in silence they
Speak happiness beyond the reach of books;
There's nothing mortal in them; their decay
Is the green life of change; to pass away
And come again in blooms revivified.
Its birth was heaven, eternal is its stay,
And with the sun and moon shall still abide
Beneath their day and night and heaven wide. 

John Clare is one of my favourite poets and I was reminded of his evocative and thought-provoking poem while on a recent walk in the woods near our house.

After seeing the woods in winter, bare and devoid of greenery, it's a yearly miracle that everything is 'revivified'. Bluebells start to appear, trees and flowers blossom and there's comfort and hope in the knowledge that nature is eternal and constant.

 Writing prompts:

• What 'feeling' do you get being in nature? Does a walk in the woods, across the fields or simply sitting in the park or your garden lift your spirits? Write about those feelings for six minutes.
• Write about a time when you have felt 'happiness beyond the reach of books'? What do you think the poet means by this?
  
• The poem speaks of rebirth, immortality, and eternity. Do you think we humans are doing enough to preserve nature? Write a response to this question, perhaps making a list of all the things you could do as an individual.
  

 

 

Bluebell Time

Bluebell Time

Million bells waving bright bonnets of blue
Flaunting tall ranks of incredible hue.
Groundbreaking columns of stalks fill the shade
Assailing our senses from every dull glade.

Mid dapple-dim woods we tred without sound
Breathtaking armies of blue all around.
Sun shedding Spring over cold woodland dew,
Highlighting patches of mystical blue.
Sheer seas of colour all billowing there
Dance to perfection their Show of the Year.

 (poem reproduced with kind permission from the poet Fay Slimm)

Bluebells are blooming in the woods again. I've written about them before (click here), but I never tire of them. Every year they are such a joy and their colour remains unrivalled. 

When I was a child I had a dolly called Bluebell. In the days before she arrived my big sister spent a lot of time helping me to choose a name for the doll that I knew was coming. She wrote long lists, but still I could not decide. As soon as I saw her, I knew she had to be Bluebell because of the colour of her coat, dress, hat and shoes. Sadly, the outfit was lost along the way, but Bluebell still has pride of place among my other dollies. 

Writing prompts:

• What is your favourite Spring flower? Write about why you love it. 
• Did you you have a favourite doll, or soft toy as a child. What was it called? Have you still got it? Write about it for a few minutes.
• Names tell us a lot about someone. Write about your own name - how you got it, what it means, whether or not you like it. 
• Make a list of all 'flower' names for girls you can think of. Choose one of them, allocate it to an imaginary character, and write about them.
  

 

Unwind With Nature

 

Photo by Brittney Strange on Unsplash

"Bluebells, cockle shells,

Eevery ivory over."

Today is the start of Mental Health Awareness Week and the focus this year is on connecting with nature. Click here to find out more. 

Over the past few days the bluebells have appeared carpeting local woods. When we were children, out for a walk, and didn't know any better, we'd pick them and then be disappointed when they were limp and lifeless as we arrived home. Of course it's enough to just stand quietly in a wood, amongst the bluebells, take in their beautiful colour and breathe in their scent. Very soon anxieties will lift and you will feel calmer. 

The Bronte sisters Emily and Anne both wrote poems about bluebells. You can read them here and here. 

The RSPB has more ideas here about how to connect with nature and improve your well-being and mental health. Click here to find out how you can encourage wildlife to your garden by making a little pond. 

Writing prompts:

• Write about ways in which connecting with nature helps your well-being.
• Write about flowers that you love, and why.
• Make a list of five small things you could do this week to connect with nature.
• Do you remember skipping rhymes from your childhood (like the one above)? Write them down. 

Bluebells, cockle shells ....

I saw carpets of bluebells in the woods today on my walk. I love their deep, purply-blue colour, their fragrance, how they hang like little lanterns, and the way a distant patch seems to shimmer in a haze of blue, the eye unable to make them completely distinct.

They brought to mind the skipping rhyme we used to sing as children in the playground:

'Bluebells, cockle shells,

Eevery ivery over.'

I spent many hours skipping, on my own and jumping in, while two other people turned a long rope. There were so many skipping songs, some of them a bit rude if I recall correctly, and others that would be regarded as not very 'politically correct'! Yet, I have fond memories of that time - the friends I had, the games we played. 

Do you have a memory of a skipping song, or a playground game? Maybe elastic skipping, 'twosie' ball, whip and top, marbles? Write about those memories of playing as a child. Share below if you like.