Beauty, Light and Music, Poetry and Prose

By Susan Frances Edwards

A collection of many styles of poetry and short descriptive pieces of prose which were inspired by a love for beauty, light and music, among other things. Many were inspired by Susan's life in York, in the Lake District, in Tanzania, and now in West Cumbria. The poems range from the biographical, the descriptive and reflective, to the comic and philosophical. Simple notes are included at the end of the collection which explain the poetic forms and the precise inspiration of each piece.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susan Frances Edwards
• Release date: Feb 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310748424

Susan Frances Edwards

I was born in the city of York, and moved to Lorton in the Lake District when I was eight, spending my formative childhood years in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It's still my heart's home.As a child I was read to by my parents and grew up loving books, especially those with rich and well-used language, as well as delighting in the natural world. These are now two of the most important aspects of who I am, along with a love for music, good food and company, a lively curiosity and a sense of humour.I'm a member of The Whitehaven Writers, the Tolkien Society,the West Cumbria branch of the U3A, and am active in the Parish of Whitehaven. When the weather permits, I go out to the Solway coast or the Lake District with my camera in hand, and often get odd looks from walkers when I'm down on my knees taking a picture of moss or lichen or fungi. You can see some of my pictures and the writing they've inspired in my blog at - http://susanfrancesedwards.me.ukI've lived and worked in many places around England as well as teaching for six years in Tanzania. I've been a Library Assistant, a Primary teacher, a Cub Scout Leader, An Anglican Parish Worker, a novice Franciscan Sister, and finally a self-employed Home Tutor. But after all that I've retired and settled back in Cumbria, in the Georgian port town of Whitehaven, and am very happy to be almost within sight and sound of 'home'.

Book preview

Beauty, Light and Music

Poetry and Prose

by

Susan Frances Edwards

Published by Susan Frances Edwards at Smashwords

Copyright - 2014 Susan Frances Edwards

Discover other titles by Susan Frances Edwards at http://www.Smashwords.com

Samples of her novels and other works can be found in her Author Pages at

http://susanfrancesedwards.me.uk

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. Excerpts from this book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided they remain in their original form and the author is credited. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Smashwors.com to discover other works by this author.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are offered to Stephen Fry for his book, 'The Ode Less Travelled',

Arrow Books, 2007, from which I learned many of the poetic forms found here.

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Table of Contents

Beauty, Light and Music

Beauty

Most Beautiful

Winter Magic

The Camera

Views From A Bench

Chaos and Beauty

The Old Ash Tree

Water Lilies

Grace and Beauty, Eternal Strength

The Wonder of Woods

Ancient Entities Enduring Eternity

Stirring

Red

A Stream Full of Stars

Jewels

Light

Morning Light

Italian Sunrise

Lights of Faerie

Sunset Fire

Symbols of Hope

City Lights

Candlelight

Music

The Music Sings

Son et Lumiere At The Harbour

Voices

Meditations and Reflections

Waves

Peace

Will Planet X Return?

Puddles

Before

Winter Sleep

Leaving

A Wild Patience

The Bliss of Solitude

Alone

Beneath The Bed

Life's Too Short!

Dust Motes In A Sunbeam

People

Who Do You Think You Are?

Family Summers

My Teachers

The Questions Children Ask

The Photograph Album

A Favourite Childhood Game

With You Alone

The Return

Mighty Wordsmith

Bomber Command

Ghosts

Procrastination and The Last Minute

Miscellany

Words

Lord of The Plains

A Plea For Rain

Ariadne

The Package

My Bear

Mutton Dressed As Lamb

Pancakes

Lost Property

'Donkey!'

Slaying The Dragon

Explanatory Notes

About The Author

Other Books By Susan Frances Edwards

Introduction

Welcome to a first collection of my poems and shorter pieces of prose, which range from the descriptive and reflective to the comic or philosophical. Thank you for downloading it. As you dip into it I hope you will find some pleasure in the possibilities of our wonderful language, perhaps a different view on life, and even a smile or two.

These pieces have almost all been written since February 2009 either as exercises in meetings of The Whitehaven Writers; as 'homework' tasks to be done at home; or in of one of our monthly workshops. Inevitably they have all been reworked several times since, sometimes changing their titles more than once, and some have wandered so far from their origins they're now unrecognisable even by me.

Should you know little about the many and various forms poetry can take and want to know more about the poetic form in which something is written, or the inspirational source of a piece, some simple notes have been placed at the end of the book.

I've arranged the book in rough groupings, for ease of location, although, of course, some pieces could have been put in several places. I've also intermingled the prose amongst the poems, hoping to give the collection a variety of moods.

Certain key thoughts and inspirations remain the same throughout each person's life, and so in this collection themes and ideas repeat themselves in different forms, which may even appear to be contradictory or inconsistent. I make no apology for that, they are who I was and who I now am, and that's what poetry's about, discovering and expressing who you are through your interaction with the world and the people you know. I also make no apology for my Christian faith, it is the ground of my being, though I trust those of any belief or none will find something worth reflecting on in the more philosophical pieces.

I apologise to any members of my wider family if I've mis-remembered aspects of my childhood. Childhood memories are just that, and very often not a correct account of what actually happened.

Susan Frances Edwards February 2014

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Beauty, Light and Music

Beauty, Light and Music can lift our hearts and souls.

When we're feeling sad and sorry,

Whenever we're completely stressed,

When our minds are full of worry,

By work or trouble over-pressed,

Beauty, Light and Music can lift our hearts and souls.

Beauty's all around us if we will only look.

The changing colours of the skies,

The rise and fall of moors and hills,

The light of love in smiling eyes,

Bright summer flowers on window sills,

Yes, Beauty's all around us – we only need to look

Light's mystery and wonder fuel the universe.

In dawns and sunsets, noontime's blaze,

From moon and stars, or streetlight's glow,

In Winter's sparkle, Autumn's haze,

From God above or us below,

Light's mystery and wonder fuel the universe.

Music has a magic that reaches to the depths.

From Mozart, Beethoven or Byrd,

From nightingale or human song,

From the richness of a spoken word,

From river, lake, or ocean strong,

Music has a magic that reaches to the depths.

Beauty, Light and Music are the richest gifts of life;

Seen in mountains or a snowflake,

Fireflies bright or the Milky Way,

Ode to Joy or song of heartache,

There to be found each passing day

Are Beauty, Light and Music – the richest gifts of life.

Beauty

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Most Beautiful

How can so much beauty be found

in this small, bright circle of blue and green?

Remembering the place in which it came to be,

I see again these vivid hues and shades;

they swirled and mingled just like this

from deep and purest blue to emerald green,

where rich, cold waters swirled around the shores,

where mighty ocean currents ebbed and flowed,

and abilone are found beneath the waves.

The twisting lines and patterns on the shell,

re like valleys, ridges, heights and depths;

broad verdant plains, forest covered hills,

and blue-green ice melt in braided ribbons,

winding and wandering down to the sea.

Land of many islands, held in the lap of ocean,

Aotearoa, most beautiful New Zealand,

I wonder to see your essence captured here

In a small bright circle of paua shell.

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Winter Magic

We stopped the car at the top of the brow, reluctant to follow the winding road down into the magical valley which lay below us.

Three o'clock on a frozen winter afternoon, but an afternoon with such power it had drawn us from the cosy warmth of the house into the snow-covered world outside.

We had driven slowly through the lanes marvelling at the beauty of every house, wall, hedge and tree. There had been no wind overnight when the snow fell, and, as if held in a powerful enchantment the day was silent and everything in it unmoving, except for us.

The hedgerows were mysterious shapes lying alongside the road – so many kinds of creature we imagined hiding beneath that smooth white duvet, waiting for us to pass so that they could lift their heads and emerge into the brilliant light. In the field walls the stones seemed to have been sculpted by the artistry of snow and frost. The outlines of houses were drawn black against the white as if a giant had sketched them with a stick of charcoal; and the trees were delicate miracles of filigree, their covering of snow not a burden weighing them down, but a glory of silver light on every branch and twig which lifted them towards the heavens and the winter sun.

Until we reached this spot we had been in a world drawn in black and white, each turn in the road a fresh page in the artist's sketch book amazing us with new wonders. The air had such clarity that every curve and hollow of the fells was outlined sharply as if by the finest architect's pen, and the light was brighter than our minds had