Winter Beauty

A few images this evening of the winter beauty of both my back yard here in south Minneapolis and along nearby Minnehaha Creek. Of course, the big change since these photos were taken is that the creek is now solidly frozen over.

Oh, and as a special treat this evening I also share John Keats' haunting poem, "The Winter's Wind." Enjoy!

O thou whose face hath felt the Winter’s wind,
Whose eye has seen the snow-clouds hung in mist
And the black elm tops ‘mong the freezing stars,
To thee the spring will be a harvest-time.

O thou, whose only book has been the light
Of supreme darkness which thou feddest on
Night after night when Phœbus was away,
To thee the Spring shall be a triple morn.

O fret not after knowledge- I have none,
And yet my song comes native with the warmth.
O fret not after knowledge- I have none,
And yet the Evening listens. He who saddens
At thought of idleness cannot be idle,
And he’s awake who thinks himself asleep.

– John Keats (1795-1821)

Above: The kind of path upon which one might expect to meet a faun! . . . Perhaps even Pan himself!

[And then I] looked in the very eyes of the Friend and Helper; saw the backward sweep of the curved horns, gleaming in the growing daylight; saw the stern, hooked nose between the kindly eyes that were looking down [at me] humorously, while the bearded mouth broke into a half-smile at the corners; saw the rippling muscles on the arm that lay across the broad chest, the long supple hand still holding the pan-pipes only just fallen away from the parted lips.

– Source

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Winter Light
• Photo of the Day – December 11, 2016
• A Winter Reflection
• Winter Storm (2016)
• Winter Storm (2012)
• Shadows and Light
• Winter's Return
• A Winter Walk Along Minnehaha Creek
• Photo of the Day – December 9, 2012

Photography: Michael J. Bayly.