Saturday, March 8, 2014

Daffodils

 
Re-post

We had a large, circular driveway in Marshall, Virginia where I grew up from 5 on which was encompassed by Daffodils in the springtime. A beautiful sight to behold.

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;


Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:


Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;


And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth 1770-1850

2 comments:

  1. Hwy 17 between Marshall Va and Paris Va is one of my favorite stretches of highway,
    Even with the ridiculous 45 mph speed limit now. I wish I could afford to own a place
    there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 45? Didn't know that as I haven't been back since I went to the 2009 March on DC. I remember when they put in 66 and ruined everything.Yes Fauquier and Loudoun are beautiful. My father had a farm outside of Delaplane and one near Atoka where I would work every summer. He was a country doctor and bought them in the depression for very little. Wish I could do to a replay. I have a lot of good stories on NamSouth about the two counties, Marshall, Mosby etcetera. My favorite:

    "Mosby Country" Friends
    http://www.namsouth.com/viewtopic.php?t=246&highlight=marshall

    "Journals of Amanda Virginia Edmonds, Lass of the Mosby Confederacy *1857-1867" by Nancy Chappelear Baird.

    *It is 1859 on the cover, which is a misprint.

    She and her husband were dear friends of our family. I have the book she gave us, and I also have a wonderful story about her husband, who had a brilliant mind, but was very forgetful.
    (He also had a well stocked basement full of bourbon.)

    One day he and his wife went into *Marshall, from where they lived in Delaplane, to shop and he dropped off Mrs. Baird at some place while he went elsewhere. Later on, he returned home and when dinner was served, the cook came into the dining room and stated "Mr. Baird, where is Mrs. Baird?" Mr. Baird looked startled, and replied "Goddamn it, I knew I forgot something!"

    *Where I grew up, and where Mosby disbanded. Named for the Chief Justice whose house is outside of town. It was called Salem during the War.

    ReplyDelete