That thing called b e a u t y ....

a flower vase at Shanti Kunj - arrangement and photo courtesy Christa Eicher

A thing of beauty (Endymion) by John Keats

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its lovliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkn'd ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.


Hear, hear!

We are reading a George MacDonald novel ("The Shepherd's Castle") as a family, and the book opens with a shepherd / scholar boy reading Shelley while resting his bare feet. He is accosted by a clergyman who considers him a heretic for reading such dangerous poetry.

Would that we had more poems about beauty. Our world is rather sparse with words that sing of that which pleases the eye and the heart - that which we yearn for deep within us - that which every small table setting made with love and every large breath-taking panoramic vista of the Himalaya in the twilight spurs us to.

So we will leave with three images of beauty - each operating at different scales.

A leaf shot from here in Thane:



Our happy twosome and who make a joyous threesome with their cousin Joanna (shot in Vishakapatnam):


And of course another image of Mussoorie (shot my Mum from the terrace of Shanti Kunj) - which for us as a family serves as one of our havens of beauty: