(after a painting by John Constable)
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day.
And ravens, weathering wild thermals, glint
blue-black beneath these clouds of graphite grey.
The strong, squat tower, formed of ancient flint,
has settled in the landscape, like the bole
of some decaying oak. The long-dead lie,
obscured by nettles. Nestling on its knoll,
the tiny temple shoulders out the sky.
What is compact is beautiful, to me.
Design with deftness guarantees a grace
that grander gewgaws lack: economy
is elegant, sublime in straitened space.
The more I practise, play and ponder on it,
The more I love the stature of the sonnet.
John Constable famed for his Haywain
later loved painting the wind&rain*
in many ways ahead of his time
&with which conniseurs of art still chime
*https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/constable-cloud-study-n06065
Tempest over Brighton for certain
but who has painted this rain
who style do we see
splashed so free?
* turner or who? https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-constable/seascape-study-with-rain-cloud-1
Suffolk's landscapeer John Constable
was both talented& able
His art 'eye salve' is a veritable treat
he called it more savoury than sweet
* judge for your self here. https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-constable/rainstorm-over-the-sea-1828
Maria was John Constable,love of his life
waiting seven years to make her his wife
Seven children she bore her dear John
sadly at 40 caught tb ,died & was gone
*pic of maria painted in her wedding year http://www.john-constable.net/portrait-of-maria-bicknell/
John Constable-
memories of a childhood,..seen
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