Addisonâs Walk
Living in a city that is popular with tourists can be an odd experience. It often doesnât really occur to you to visit some of the more popular âattractionsâ if you live there all the time, but as a result you can miss out on some great experiences. My mum visited today, and insisted that we should look around Magdalen College. Iâm very glad that she did, because it was really beautiful. The buildings themselves are very pretty, of course, but Iâm afraid that living in such an old city has spoiled me for ancient buildingsââPfft, that bit only dates from 1723â.
On the other hand, Addisonâs Walk and the Water Meadows were breathtaking. The Walk is circular, and skirts around the edge of the meadow, flanked by avenues of trees and streams. The meadow itself was a sea of purple and white snakes head fritillaries. They are quite a rare plant, and I donât think Iâve ever seen so many in one place. There were yellow and blue wood anemonies and primroses flanking the path, and birds singing everywhere. Itâs hard to believe that youâre in the middle of a noisy city.
Even more magically, there was a plaque half way around, inscribed with a poem by CS Lewis called âWhat the Bird Said Early in the Yearâ:
I heard in Addisonâs walk a bird sing clear: âThis year the summer will come true this year, this year. Winds will not strip the blossom from the apple trees this year, nor want of rain destroy the peas. This year timeâs nature will no more defeat you nor all its promised moments in their passing cheat you. This time they will not lead you round and back to Autumn one year older by the well worn track. This year, this year, as all these flowers fortell, we shall escape the circle and undo the spell. Often deceived yet open once again your heart quick, quick, quick, quick, the gates are drawn apart.â
I hadnât heard the poem before, and coming upon it unexpectedlyâat exactly the time when it was meant to be readâwas beautiful. I love the final line. In Oxford you feel as if you are never far from gates or windows opening on to other worlds.
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Wow, those are beautiful photos! What camera did you take them with?----- bitweever: I took them long before I had my digital camera, so these were taken with a Pentax MZ-50 SLR, and then the prints scanned with an Epson 1240U scanner. Itâs a lovely camera actually, with exceptionally good meteringâthat shot in the cloisters was a tricky one to balance, but the camera did very well.
by bsag @ 15/04/2004 4:05 pm • Permalink •
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I just part-exâd my trusty MZ-50 for a Fuji S5000 digital (and am having great fun with the instantaneousness of it).
by Mr.D. @ 16/04/2004 7:05 am • Permalink •
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Just discovered your blog after searching for WordPress info, and (as they say in McDonalds) Iâm loving it.
by David @ 16/04/2004 10:05 am • Permalink •
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Mr. D. Yes, the instant nature of digital photography is fun, but my Pentax is certainly miles better in terms of image quality than my Nikon Coolpix 885, which is a bit sad.
David: Thanks! Glad you are enjoying it.
by bsag @ 17/04/2004 10:04 am • Permalink •
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What a lovely poem - thank you. And I love frits too, especially when naturalised in a meadow - stunning flowers.-----
ThoughtBadger: Itâs lovely isnât it? I hadnât come across it before. It seems that the fritillaries in the meadows are actually wild (rather than naturalised), which makes them even rarer. Itâs one of those bits of land which have never been ploughed or fertilised (except by deer dung).
by bsag @ 18/04/2004 9:04 am • Permalink •
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Shipwrecked!
"Three tickets please," I said to the chick at the ferry office. "Are you sure?" "Yes. Why?" "I'm afraid we...
by what's new, pussycat? @ 11/05/2004 6:06 pm • Permalink •
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