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CREATIVE REFRESHMENT
‘February’ by James Berry Bensel
‘The red sun sets the sky ablaze’ painting by Susan Alison
‘February’ by James Berry Bensel
Around, above the world of snow The light-heeled breezes breathe and blow; Now here, now there, they whirl the flakes, And whistle through the sun-dried brakes, Then, growing faint, in silence fall Against the keyhole in the hall.
Then dusky twilight spreads around, The last soft snowflake seeks the ground, And through unshaded window-panes The lamp-rays strike across the plains, While now and then a shadow tall Is thrown upon the white washed wall.
The hoar-frost crackles on the trees, The rattling brook begins to freeze, The well-sweep glistens in the light As if with dust of diamonds bright; And speeding o’er the crusted snow A few swift-footed rabbits go.
Then the night-silence, long and deep, When weary eyes close fast in sleep; The hush of Nature’s breath, until The cock crows loud upon the hill; And shortly through the eastern haze The red sun sets the sky ablaze.
All I’ve been able to find out about James Berry Bensel (1856–1886) (at the moment — I’m not yet giving up on this poor chap) has been quoted below — how horribly depressing … And he was only thirty when he died, too …
“A native of New York city, he was a student in Lynn, Mass., a clerk in Boston, and, following his literary bent, an author and public reader. His life is the pathetic and too familiar story of suffering and unfulfilled promise. He published a volume of poems, In the King’s Garden. (D. Lothrop & Co.)” (Crandall)
From In the King’s Garden (1885)”
My own creativity is always refreshed by reading the creative works of others — especially some of the classic poems, knowing they were written in a different world at a different time, with a different mindset.
*This poem is in the public domain. Stuff you need to know about the use of other people’s work.
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