Today I send you a dose of beauty to get you past the midweek doldrums.
Remember that beauty is medicine for the soul. Truth, goodness, and beauty are Divine in origin. The pathway to joy is found in pursuing these aspects of life.
I hope to point you in the right direction by highlighting beauty that is accessible to almost everyone.
(Mother Tucking Children Into Bed, Norman Rockwell, 1921)
Poetry:
I found this delightful poem from Robert Lewis Stevenson’s famous book of poems, A Child’s Garden of Verses, published in 1885. Imagine that such beautiful poems were once a mainstay in the preparation for bedtime of children around the world.
KEEPSAKE MILL
Over the borders, a sin without pardon,
Breaking the branches and crawling below,
Out through the breach in the wall of the garden,
Down by the banks of the river, we go.
Here is the mill with the humming of thunder,
Here is the weir with the wonder of foam,
Here is the sluice with the race running under—
Marvellous places, though handy to home!
Sounds of the village grow stiller and stiller,
Stiller the note of the birds on the hill;
Dusty and dim are the eyes of the miller,
Deaf are his ears with the moil of the mill.
Years may go by, and the wheel in the river
Wheel as it wheels for us, children, to-day,
Wheel and keep roaring and foaming for ever
Long after all of the boys are away.
Home from the Indies and home from the ocean,
Heroes and soldiers we all shall come home;
Still we shall find the old mill wheel in motion,
Turning and churning that river to foam.
You with the bean that I gave when we quarrelled,
I with your marble of Saturday last,
Honoured and old and all gaily apparelled,
Here we shall meet and remember the past.
~ Robert Lewis Stevenson
You can find the delightful book on Project Gutenberg, a site full of beautiful children’s books which are now in the public domain. The link is: A Child's Garden of Verses
Art:
I also discovered the most delightful art this past month by Austrian painter and lithographer, Edmund Adler (1876-1965) who captures the innocence of childhood with his brushstrokes.
This painting shows the beautiful relationship between a mother and her child, a girl who delights in her pet rabbit. Adler captures the sense of joy in the face of the girl who cradles the rabbit in her loving arms. Notice how the scene is so carefully depicted with flowers in the windowsill and pictures on the walls.
Here is another beautiful depiction of children. It appears that an older sibling is lovingly feeding a small child while her little sister looks on holding a puppy in her arms. A younger brother watches after his dog who is in turn watching over the puppy. A perfect depiction of the close relationships that were formed in the family.
This painting by Adler depicts children who carry bouquets or pots of flowers. Notice how the girls in the middle hold hands. The oldest girl to the right appears to be talking to the group of children. The painting leaves us with a sense of wonder. The flowers stand in bright contrast to the dark surrounding of the walls and ground.
Even in meager surroundings, we can find beauty in simple things like bright yellow buttercups or dandelions that grow wild and without bounds, an act of defiance in a world of manicured and perfectly mown lawns.
I hope these words and images have brought a touch of beauty into your life.
Beauty is medicine for the soul. May you find joy when you seek what is beautiful.
God bless you and those you love.
The pantings look as if they are of the same family at different times. They are what many of us long for in our lives.
The poem, also, echoes the longing for return to a more simple, friendlier past.
The evil one has certainly done a job on our families.
Thank you for sharing these beautiful words and images for us to contemplate. God bless you.
Thank you!