greentapestry : Easter Lilies

Saturday 15 April 2017

Easter Lilies


Think Easter flowers and daffodils come straight into my mind. It's a late Easter this year and the daffodils are already fading away. Before thoughts of them go over the horizon completely, I wanted to post about a veritable host of daffodils that we had the pleasure to see on our last trip to the Lake District.


This year we were spot on with our timing to catch the the wild daffodil at the peak of perfection 'Narcissus pseudonarcissus' is also known as the Easter lily, Lenten lily, daffy and daffydowndilly. They are the daffodils mentioned in the famous opening lines of William Wordworth's poem :

"I wandered 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"



The poem was inspired by a walk that Wordsworth had taken with his sister Dorothy on the shores of Ullswater. She records in her journal on the 15th April 1802 that "When we were in the wood beyond Gowbarrow Park we saw a few daffodils close to the water-side...... But as we went along there were more and yet more ...... I never saw daffodils so beautiful. They grew among the mossy stones about and about them; some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness; and the rest tossed and reeled and danced, and it seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind, that blew upon them over the lake; they looked so gay, ever glancing, ever changing".


We didn't go to Ullswater to see wild daffodils but to the beautiful church of St. Anthony's, Cartmel Fell, which was built in 1502.


Here we paused for some considerable time in the churchyard, gazing at the daffodils and listening to the sound of silence, broken only by nectar seeking bees and by birdsong. Simply quite magical.

11 comments:

  1. Wit sounds wonderful. We went to seenmasses of snowdrops and plan a bluebell visit maybe next year we will add daffodils to our list of things to see,

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  2. Daffodils have been over for ages in my garden but there are still one or two white/yellow ones up at the allotments. Your trip sounds wonderful, a real tonic for busy lives. I know what you mean about sitting quietly listening to the sounds of nature - I get the same at the allotment plot, unusual for London but sometimes all I hear is birdsong and bees. Well worth the trip up there in the evening!

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  3. Daffodils and bird song - how wonderful!

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  4. Hi Anna,
    How beautiful! I've never seen so many Daffodils blanketing the earth. The view in the first picture is stunning. Happy
    gardening!

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  5. That must have been absolutely wonderful! We have lots of Narcissus pseudonarcissus here in the woodland, but mine are sadly all over for another year.

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  6. That must have been a wonderful sight, and sound!

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  7. What a wonderful experience, Anna - thank you for sharing it with us

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  8. No lake, but a beautiful setting for those daffodils nevertheless :)

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  9. Absolutely beautiful, Anna, thanks for sharing! I often think English graveyards are the prettiest in the world. I love the simplicity of the stones sitting in long grass and in your case in the daffodils. Pure poetry. Here it's all plastic flowers, argh. Happy Easter Monday :)

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  10. It is good to see such an isolated church still in continuous use.

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  11. What a wonderful post, Anna! Wordsworth has always been one of my favorite poets, I suppose because of his love of nature. I always think of the lines you quoted about the "host of daffodils" every spring when the daffodils bloom. But to actually walk through the Lake District and see this sight must have been a magical experience indeed.

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All your comments are much appreciated and treasured. I wil try to reply to everyone who leaves a comment, but it may take me a few days, especially when I start spending more time in the garden and at the lottie. I know that you will understand :) I am sure that I will also visit your blog if I have not already done so. If you have any specific questions I will either reply to them here or you can email me at : thegreentapestry@gmail.com

Namasté

- Anna.