Sunday, October 12, 2008

Today was a perfectly perfect autumn day in Central Ohio! WT and
I took a little fall drive to absorb some of the wonderful colors. Here
are a few photos I took at the Oak Grove Cemetery and Arboretum.
In 1850 Oak Grove Cemetery purchased the Kilbourne farm, about
80 acres, one mile south of Delaware, OH. Cemeteries, for me, always
conjure thoughts of significance and the brevity of life. I've included
a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, in which she also conveys my
feelings on the subject.

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Dirge Without Music
Edna St. Vincent Millay

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the
hard ground.
So, it is and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind.
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
with lilies and with laurel they go, but I am not resigned.

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains, ---but the best is lost.

The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter,
the love,---
They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses elegant and
curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not
approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in
the world.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

37 comments:

  1. Beautiful photographs, haunting poem. Thanks Willow!

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  2. Touching poem, and wonderful photos of fall and the cemetery. I was moved by the child who lived only 2 days...

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  3. very beautiful autumn photos !

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  4. I love long drives on beautiful days. It looks like you had a perfect day for a drive.

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  5. The first and last images are to die for!

    ES.VM is one of my favorites.

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  6. Beautiful pictures. That poem is haunting...I love it.

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  7. What a gorgeous Autumn day you were blessed with!! Such color!

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  8. Stunning photos of the cemetary willow. How lucky you are to have such trees in their Autumn glory. I love the close ups of the cemetary 'furniture'. The poem is sad, but moving.

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  9. Vincent always gets it just right.

    Your photos are lovely. I miss all the fall color. Happily, I'm driving to the valley this week so I'll get my fill of COLOR!

    Seems to be the week for graveyard images. Check out the posts from Bird Tweets and Sweet Repose (links in my left side bar).

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  10. Thanks for the links...I'm popping right over~!

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  11. Lovely, lovely Willow's eye view of autumn so tender and feelings so true, of poetry and love and loss..so gentle yet so kind.

    I knew the WT was back by the recent dish you posted.

    Love the last picture of haycorns, Piglets just loove haycorns.

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  12. this is a fabulous post. i'm glad i found you through tangobaby.

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  13. Thanks for stopping by and I see Charmaine sent you over, it was a lovely day for a walk in the woods, even in the shadow of lives past, a beauty still remains in their spirit and on their stones.

    sharon

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  14. what a gorgeous day you had - the pics are just beautiful.

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  15. Wonderful photos... cemeteries are one of my favourite places to visit and whenever I am in a new town it is one of the first places I search out.

    Some might think it a morbid outing but I find the mood, the statuaries, the history, the grip of mortality to be incredibly moving and soul-soothing. And there is something about cemeteries in the autumn that is most special.

    Thank you for sharing your day, Willow.

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  16. I love cemetries! Always have. And the poem is beautiful. Must read more of her work. I watched The Painted Veil on Saturday night by myself and thought it your kind of movie. I wept copious tears into my chicken cashew and fried rice takeaway! It is based on a novel by Somerset Maugham which I will loan tomorrow from the Unisa library. The title comes from a lovely sonnet by Shelley of the same name. Think you will like that too.

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  17. Wonderfull photos, Lady Willow...

    And the poem is "touching"...

    Nice colours for autumn...

    See You later.

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  18. The poem is magnificent and as one correspondent wrote before, 'haunting'. I love her reluctance to be won over by death. Her line about lovers and thinkers makes death seem the next step along and not an interruption. Not the end, maybe the beginning to a new phenomenon. Her resistance is futile, and she knows it, for if there's a certainty in life is that we will all die, but those who have gone before and those who will go after will keep us company. I, for one, would not mind replicating some of the beautiful moments my life has given me, like reading gorgeous poetry, enjoying amazing photos and asking questions like the following:

    Last night I was watching 'Stephen Frears in America' a new series on BBC1. He mentions the state of Delaware near Connecticut. You mention the region of Delaware in Ohio, are they connected? Or maybe I am wrong and dozed off when I should have been paying more attention :-)? It was a long day and it involved a lot, or should I say, too much driving.

    Greetings from London.

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  19. Yeah, all that stuff they said and more. I love Fall pictures and great poetry. Pappy

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  20. Cuban, Delaware is a small town about 20 miles north of Columbus, Ohio, founded in 1808 and named after the Delaware Indians who occupied that area. Same name as the state of Delaware, but not geographically connected. ;^)

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  21. WOW! Stunning photos and a very moving poem - thanks for sharing..:)

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  22. Thanks for the explanation, willow. I did not fall asleep! :-)

    Greetings from London.

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  23. Beautiful gravestones. I love graveyards and those photos and the colours of autumn completed with a wonderful poem that I had not come across before makes your post perfect for me.
    And you are an angel because you have solved the puzzle of my mystery picture!
    Thank you.

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  24. I shed a little tear or two, the poem and your pictures and this time of year, a time to remember those gone but not forgotten.

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  25. Resistance is futile, but it won't make me stop resisting.

    Your post is exactly how I feel today. Thank you for sharing.

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  26. found your via Blue Sky Dreaming. I too am a Libra. Oct 8th. Love many of the same movies and bks. Lovley blog and will explore more.

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  27. Ah I knew there was someone and i had to go back and look---Janet Frame. I have heard no one ever mention her. Love her writing and ditto the movie an Angel on my Shoulder.

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  28. PS Have been at the Millay Colony twice as a writer. Seen her grave and of course house and little writing cottage.

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  29. Haunting combination ... Willow, this might be one of your best posts (IMO anyway)!

    :-Daryl

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  30. Interesting choice of poem and great photographs.
    Beautiful colors and detail.
    I liked this very much.

    Martha and I like old cemeteries.

    Thanks for the visit,
    Troy and Martha

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  31. Willow, What a perfect Sunday ride, your photos are beautiful. The carvings on the headstones are exquisite. A pencil rubbing of the tree would be a wonderful keepsake. Poetry choice heart touching. My parents took my sister and I on Sunday drives in the countryside and it was always great on the eyes no matter the season. We would usually end the ride by stopping off for ice cream cones...my favorite was Rocky Road!
    Mary Ann

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  32. goodness willow you are so right! this poem is in perfect harmony...or perhaps contradiction.. to my own post today. i would love to offer ms millay the comfort of my endorsement; "do not be resigned for they live, and in response to our yearning for their fleshly presence they offer their companionship still."
    your graveyard photos are beautiful indeed! thanks for visiting this week :)

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  33. Lovely photos! Autumn is the most wonderful of seasons. My favorite cemetary is the old one in Montery, California.

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  34. What glorious pictures, Willow!

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  35. These are some of the most beautiful photos I've ever seen. Your trees are gorgeous!

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  36. I love these hauntingly beautiful images. And, of course, you've found the perfect words to enhance them.

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  37. OH my, you've got me with these pictures. How spectacular...Gosh, I love old cemeteries and the poem is amazing.

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)