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Ponyo ponders…
I wandered through the woodland shade Where dryads sing and windflowers bloom; At midnight, when the lyre-birds played, I danced with sprites beneath the moon. With elfin cats in robes I dined On...
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An Adlestrop moment
Machno Valley © Colin Woolf I’m taking a bit of a diversion from my usual Hazel Tree topics because it’s late June. I think I’d better explain. There are lots of poems that I admire, and while I was...
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Midwinter hope
It’s been a while (six months, in fact!) since I posted my tribute to Edward Thomas’ Adlestrop, and the season has now rolled around from midsummer to midwinter. I can’t resist the opportunity to...
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A poem for Burns Night
Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, was passionate about the people and the landscapes of his homeland. Even if you’re not piping in the haggis tonight, you can appreciate the heartache behind...
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A timeless moment
When I was 17 or 18, I wouldn’t have believed anyone who told me I’d be wishing to quote T S Eliot later in life. I can still remember my outrage at being asked to make sense of ‘The Waste Land’. But...
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A Christmas poem
Time for another poem, and I’m going back to one of my all-time favourites, Thomas Hardy. This one always makes me catch my breath – I think it captures the pure essence of Christmas. The Oxen...
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A poem for Easter
It’s been a while since I came across A E Housman, but this lovely poem is just right for Easter and the first cherry blossoms that are braving the April winds. Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is...
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Early summer gold
Walking around Taynish woods in the early summer sunshine, I was reminded of these words by the American poet Robert Frost. The newly-emerged leaves of the oak trees were making the hillside glow with...
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Midsummer’s Eve
Looking for some words to celebrate midsummer, I found this lovely extract which casts a magic spell… “Out of this wood do not desire to go: Thou shalt remain here, whether thou wilt or no. I am a...
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‘November’ by John Clare
A longer poem than usual, but I love it. It’s worth reading to the end, if you have the time! The landscape sleeps in mist from morn till noon; And, if the sun looks through, tis with a face Beamless...
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‘The Sisters – Olive trees of Noah’: poem by Sudeep Adhikari
Just recently I was contacted by a poet named Sudeep Adhikari, who wondered if I would like to publish a couple of his poems on The Hazel Tree. Sudeep lives in Kathmandu, Nepal. The first poem he has...
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‘Tree is a fractalscape’ by Sudeep Adhikari
This is the second poem offered to me by Sudeep Adhikari, with a beautiful photo by Bibhu Bikram Pant. Tree is a fractalscape A shape of silence stands green on the skeletal wood-bones and the other...
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‘All nature has a feeling’ by John Clare
All nature has a feeling: woods, fields, brooks Are life eternal: and in silence they Speak happiness beyond the reach of books; There’s nothing mortal in them; their decay Is the green life of...
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