Day 22

"...one ought every day at least to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." -Goethe

A poem for today: Philip Larkin's "The Trees" has much to admire. Among the many poetic devices he includes, Larkin makes great use of assonance (i.e., vowel rhyme, like the long "e" in trees / recent / leaf / greenness / grief). Read it aloud! These days are best for watching how "The trees are coming into leaf / Like something almost being said."

The Trees, by Philip Larkin

The trees are coming into leaf
Like something almost being said;
The recent buds relax and spread,
Their greenness is a kind of grief.

Is it that they are born again
And we grow old? No, they die too,
Their yearly trick of looking new
Is written down in rings of grain.

Yet still the unresting castles thresh
In fullgrown thickness every May.
Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.

A song for today: TV on the Radio's "Family Tree" from the brilliant Dear Science album. From cycles in nature, we turn to cycles that span generations.

Works Cited

Larkin, Philip. "The Trees." bbc.com. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20151201-a-beautiful-animation-of-philip-larkins-the-trees. Accessed 3 April 2020.

Pizzi, Rudi. "Spring Trees."

TV on the Radio. "Family Tree." Dear Science, 4AD, 2008.