
Haunts of the Lapwing - Reimagining Richard Jefferies #7
The Lapwing are back ...
[...] Suddenly! Some chance movement has been noticed by the nearest Lapwing, and away they go at once as if with the same wings, sweeping overhead, then to the right, then to the left, and then back again, till at last lost in the coming shower. [...]
Richard Jefferies (1848-1887)
april showers ...
sweeping the fields
the plover’s cry
[...] Again the plover’s notes; this time in the field immediately behind; repeated, too, in the field on the right hand. One comes over, and as he flies he jerks a wing upwards and partly turns on his side in the air, rolling like a vessel in a swell. He seems to beat the air sideways, as if against a wall, not downwards. This habit makes his course appear so uncertain; he may go there, or yonder, or in a third direction, more undecided than a startled snipe. [...]
Richard Jefferies (1848-1887)
Featured Artist
The featured painting of ‘Lapwing at Roost’ is by Richard Allen and is used here with permission. Richard is an artist and illustrator based in East Anglia amid the creeks and marshes of the Essex coast. His great passion is the natural world, particularly birds, and he enjoys the challenge of sketching and painting them directly from life in the field in all weathers. The Colne estuary near his home in Wivenhoe provides plenty of inspiration, especially in winter when large flocks of waders and wildfowl flock to the coast.
Here is a link to his Gallery ...
Welcome
Audio Credit
The recording by Herman van der Meer is used here under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 license. This and many more can be found at - Xeno-Canto - a website dedicated to sharing bird sounds from all over the world.
My apologies but I wrongly credited the featured painting of Lapwing to Carry Akroyd. Carry has indeed painted Lapwing but not this one I’m afraid. This one is by Richard Allen another SWLA member.
This is the one by Carry …
https://twitter.com/partridge_nsr/status/1380438537707864065?s=21
Thank you. Very nice work here.
Thank you I greatly appreciate your likes and comments.
Nice verse, Clive! Isn’t Carry Akroyd’s work just wonderful?
Thanks Ashley! Not one of my best but I think it pairs well with Richard Jefferies prose. Here’s a variation to be published in the Spring version of the Wales Haiku Journal…
squally showers
sweeping the saltings
the peewit’s cry
I never tire of Carry’s paintings – each time I look I see a little more and her illustrations to go with John Clares poems – well are just stunning!
I’m sure Ed will be out plant hunting for the garden soon 😊. I have a couple of books of Clare’s poems illustrated by Carry Akroyd. I look at the prints and go weak at the knees 😉.
Wow! Lucky you. I’ve had her books on my birthday list for a while hoping the prices will come down. The last one I saw of hers for sale on eBay was over £1000! Mind you it was a signed edition 😊.
Clive, I bought two paperbacks published by the John Clare Society a couple of years ago, under £10 each! 😉 Also some of her blank cards to send when writing to friends; I won’t want to part with them! 😂
No far too nice 😂. Hang on to them 😊
Such gorgeous art, and I love the haiku!
Thanks Cathy I agree the painting is rather gorgeous but I’m not sure myself about the haiku. I’m glad you love it 😊
I love to see all this bird art and your words. Wonderful tributes to the diversity of these feathered creatures.
Ah, that is most beautiful, Clive. On a day which they afterwards named “Lapwing” my father and mother (in a wood near Canterbury) decided they had fallen in love.
Lovely to hear from you Jane. Beautiful memories and how romantic. Thank you.
I love this haiku and the one further down in the comments – the way they respond to Jefferies but also accompanied by the song.
They don’t always work Andrea, but the richness of Jefferies’ prose helps.