Gardener’s Muse Day – February 2012

As I complete this monthly series paying homage to Edith Holden, I thank her for writing her diary and sharing it with us so many years ago.

February, per Edith Holden’s “Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady”…

This month derives its name from the word februare, to purify or from Februa, the Roman festival of expianon, which was celebrated through the latter part of this month.

And from the collection of poetry Ms. Holden has been kind enough to share with us …

One month is past, another is begun,
Since merry bells rang out the dying year,
And buds of rarest green began to peer,
As if impatient for a warmer sun;
And though the distant hills are bleak and dun,
The virgin snowdrop, like a lambent fire,
Pierces the cold earth with its green-streaked spire
And in dark woods, the wandering little one
May find a primrose.

What is it about poets that they MUST put in at least one word we just plain ole’ never heard of? For example, how often have you used ‘lambent’? Perhaps the word was popular when Hartley Coleridge wrote the poem in 1842. I can just picture a modern day Coleridge hovering over his keyboard perusing his Word a Day on-line calendar with delight, exclaiming to himself ‘Gotcha’!

Still, the poem speaks to me. Especially since it was written in 1842. How little the human spirit changes over the years. We await spring as did Coleridge, as do snowdrops, as will our children and their children.

As for ‘lambent’, it is a lovely word!
1. Gleaming.
2. Playing over surface, flickering or playing as a flame over a surface without burning it
3. Brilliantly light, having a light but brilliant touch.
Even the definitions are lambent.

Whereforth cometh the inspiration to wax poetic? Garden Bloggers’ Muse Day, where Carolyn Choi of Sweet Home and Garden Chicago has invited bloggers to share our favorite poems, songs, verses and quotes about gardening on the first of the month. Carolyn has left Chicagoland and her blog to follow her heart to North Carolina. Thanks to Carolyn for her inspiration.

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