Friday 20 November 2009

Evening Solace


The human heart has hidden treasures,
In secret kept, in silence sealed;
The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures,
Whose charms were broken if revealed.
And days may pass in gay confusion,
And nights in rosy riot fly,
While, lost in Fame's or Wealth's illusion,
The memory of the Past may die.

But, there are hours of lonely musing,
Such as in evening silence come,
When, soft as birds their pinions closing,
The heart's best feelings gather home.
Then in our souls there seems to languish
A tender grief that is not woe;
And thoughts that once wrung groans of anguish,
Now cause but some mild tears to flow.

And feelings, once as strong as passions,
Float softly back a faded dream;
Our own sharp griefs and wild sensations,
The tale of others' sufferings seem.
Oh ! when the heart is freshly bleeding,
How longs it for that time to be,
When, through the mist of years receding,
Its woes but live in reverie !

And it can dwell on moonlight glimmer,
On evening shade and loneliness;
And, while the sky grows dim and dimmer,
Feel no untold and strange distress
Only a deeper impulse given
By lonely hour and darkened room,
To solemn thoughts that soar to heaven,
Seeking a life and world to come.
(Charlotte Bronte)

Photographed at sunset
19 November 2009
in the Wachau Valley,
high above the Danube river
and the town of Dürnstein,
from the ruins of the castle
were Richard I, King of England -
"Coeur de Lion" or "Richard the Lionheart" -
was held captive by Duke Leopold of Austria
in 1192, 917 years ago.

Images
© by Merisi

19 comments:

  1. More awe inspirng words and pictures. Your blog is always such a delight to visit.

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  2. Merisi

    Jinksy recommended a visit to your blog. I'm so glad I did.

    Will be back for more.

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  3. Beautiful!Richard's souvenir is so alive in our minds, it's strange, so much things disappeared .

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  4. Wow! What wonderful romantic images to accompany a romantic poem and setting. Richard the Lionheart --the mere words give me goose bumps.

    Lovely, lovely, lovely!!!

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  5. I like the first photograph the most it looks like it is extremely high in the air. You have an amazing way of matching the words with the right pictures. I have reviewed your archives and ejoyed reading them.

    I connected through another blog.

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  6. Awesome and inspiring-love history, love you.

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  7. Oh, man! These are very, very beautiful. What a stunning way to end the day.

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  8. My oh my, each thing you do is more wonderful than the last. I espeially love the shot looking through the wall out at the countryside.
    Is that a new quote by National Geographic on your profile. Congratulations anyway.

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  9. @ jinksy,
    thank you! :-)
    Thank you also for sending Martin my way!

    @ Martin H.,
    welcome to my blog,
    I am looking forward to seeing you in the future and your work as well!

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  10. @ Bridget,
    some historical figures remain alive in popular legends and tales, weathering the ravages of time better than say that castle high above the Danube.

    @ Vicki Lane,
    as a little girl, my favorite good night stories where tales and legends, some of them about knights who once upon a time had lived along the Danube river (some were quite gory). The story of Richard the Lionheart was my favorite. I fell in love with both the king and his faithful servant, Blondel, and was heartbroken when I found out that both were long dead (I had this soft spot about historical figures way into my teenage years, even Napoleon - much to my chagrin now - did not escape my feelings).

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  11. @ Tom Bailey,
    welcome and thank you! :-)

    The castle is indeed on a rocky hill high above the Danube, it takes quite a while to get up to the top.
    It offered safe refuge and at the same time enemies could be seen approaching from afar.

    @ Moannie,
    thank you,
    so do I! :-)

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  12. Merisi said...
    @ SandyCarlson,
    thank you! :-)

    @ photowannabe,
    thank you! :-)
    The National Geographic quote is from the November/December 2008 edition. I put it up a couple of months ago, after gentle prodding from a friend. It can be googled.

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  13. Oh happy memories. I climbed to the top of that hill Boxing Day 1996. It was so cold I thought my lungs would burst. Thank you for the lovely look over my shoulder into the past. I love Duernstein and the link with Richard echoes my history, as I am a white rose of York.

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  14. It is beautiful ! I love to dicover more about Austria with you. I didn't know you had this kind of landscape .

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  15. What a perfect matching of your exquisite, elegaic pictures and Charlotte Bronte's words. She knew so much of grief and chaos in her life--and bore it all quietly. The scenes you show here are also rich with their tumultuous history--tranquil now. Thank you so much for your thought-provoking post.

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  16. That is a incredible poem! So beautiful. And the high views in your shots are truly wonderful. How I love the high views...anywhere and everywhere. These are special. Thanks you!

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  17. The words and photographs are lovely. I love seeing the castle where Richard the Lionheart was held captive.

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  18. How beautiful!

    As Arnold said, "I'll be back."

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  19. Beautiful pics, Merisi! At lot of atmosphere there...

    I am horrible in history: why did the duke imprison king Richard from England?

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