We’re under a flight-path at the moment, it’s qute noisy – the geese are the loudest, you can hear them from a way off, the rhythmic honking building to a chaotic crescendo as they clatter across the sky above. The ducks appear to have more energy, or is it that when in flight the small wings just need to work a little harder – the quacks more sporadic, an afterthought to staying aloft, whereas the occasional pair of swans has a grace which belies their size – the beat of their wings moving the air with a thud, thud, thud. All these returning tourists, about to touch down and make their way to the arrivals hall of Spring are a welcome sight and sound. This soundtrack of the changing season doesn’t just come from the sky, the gentle bleat of this year’s lambs as soft as the softest wool, the cow in the nearby barn mooing loudly as she prepares to calve – how lucky we are that mother nature is focused on the job in hand – the world still turns.
This poem by William Wordsworth, ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’, is a wonderful reflection on this time of year and perfect for an Easter weekend.
I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.
Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:-
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.
The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.
If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?
Our Coles Signed Editions this week kick-off with a bit of fun for younger readers with Matt Lucas and Andy Griffiths; the inspiration that nature provides for free is explored and celebrated by Ben Fogle; our blockbusting bestseller comes from Jeffrey Archer; the music memoir with a gentle heart is that of Fairport Convention’s Richard Thompson; we have three unique novels from Pip Williams, A.J. Gnuse & Elizabeth Knox, the Japanese thriller ‘Bullet Train’ is bang on time and a musical odyssey is undertaken by Helena Attlee in ‘Lev’s Violin’. And finally, the Stormtroopers are back – keeping a sense of order on the bookself.
