Fern sori and sunlight : 無料・フリー素材/写真
Fern sori and sunlight / Giles Watson's poetry and prose
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示-継承 2.1 |
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| 説明 | FERNWhile the last of thrushes singI climb out among the ling;The darker bracken lies beyond,Seeds beneath each feathered frond,For I have come o’er moor and fellIntoning my receipt and spell:Fern seed, darken and deceive:I walk unseen, Midsummer’s Eve.Waist deep, I am wading throughThe shadowed brakes, all drenched with dew,The spirits strike like musket fireAnd spit at me with curses dire;They threaten me with doom and hell,But I intone receipt and spell:Fern seed, darken and deceive:I walk unseen, Midsummer’s Eve.So I take out my pewter dish,“Flowerless ferns shall grant my wish:Capsule burst and fern seed fall,Invisible to one and all.And fall yet more, for me to sell!”Thus I intone receipt and spell:Fern seed, darken and deceive:I walk unseen, Midsummer’s Eve.I fill each pouch, each pocket too,I go bare-footed, fill each shoe,And none shall see me, none shall hear,Save a single, standing deer.And what a tale I’ll have to tell!Still I intone receipt and spell.Fern seed, darken and deceive:I walk unseen, Midsummer’s Eve.Midsummer morning shall appal:Pouch and shoe are empty all.I dream, in dark times of the year,Of dappled brakes and dappled deer,The spirits chide – I know it well –‘Twas avarice that broke the spell.Fern seed, spirited away:All is gone, Midsummer’s Day.Source material: It has long been held that at certain appointed times, the “seed” or spores of ferns can give a person the power of invisibility. It is normally maintained that the spores must not be shaken from the frond, but persuaded to fall by means of a spell or “receipt”. Shakespeare alludes to this folk belief in 1 King Henry IV, Act 2, Scene 1, in which Gadshill insists that “we have the receipt of fern-seed, - we walk invisible.” His companion, the Chamberlain, appears to be something of a sceptic, for he replies “Nay, by my faith, I think you are more beholding to the night than to fern-seed for your walking invisible.” It seems likely that the belief was related to homoeopathic magic: the fact that fern spores are miniscule led to the assumption that they could confer invisibility. The theme is taken up in a little more detail by Richard Bovet’s remarkable Pandæmonium, or, The Devil's Cloyster, Being a further Blow to modern Sadduceism, proving the Existence of Witches and Spirits, 1684. Bovet, a Puritan reacting to the scepticism of the rising Enlightenment, argued for the existence of various supernatural agencies, insisted that the spells of witches were potent, and then went on to argue that the Roman Catholic Church was practising a form of witchcraft. On p. 226, he adds: “Much discourse hath been about gathering of Fern-seed (which is looked upon as a Magical Herb) on the night of Midsummer Eve, and I remember I was told of one that went to gather it, and the Spirits whiskt by his Ears like Bullets, and sometimes struck his Hat, and other parts of his body: in fine, though he apprehended that he had gotten a quantity of it, and secured it in Papers, and a Box besides, when he came home, he found all empty. But most probable this appointing of times, and hours, is of the Devils [sic] own Institution, as well as the Fast, that having once ensnared people to an Obedience to his Rules, he may with more facility oblige them to a stricter Vassallage.” It appears that Bovet eventually fell prey to Judge Jeffreys, and thus may have ended his days wishing that times were more enlightened than he had hitherto been willing to concede.For more of my poems on ferns, see:delta-intkey.com/britht/www/poems.htmThis photo has been on Explore! The sun came out for a moment or two yesterday, and I caught this quick macro shot. There are so few insects in winter, and the mushrooms have all gone over, so now is the time when I tend to get very few macro opportunities... |
| 撮影日 | 2008-11-22 12:35:56 |
| 撮影者 | Giles Watson's poetry and prose , Oxfordshire, England |
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| カメラ | E8700 , NIKON |
| 露出 | 0.01 sec (1/103) |
| 開放F値 | f/6.0 |