The death of the albatross and the hedgehog. Bath sizzles.

2 Augut 2022
The Sun now rose upon the right:
Out of the sea came he,
Still hid in mist, and on the left
Went down into the sea.

And the good south wind still blew behind,
But no sweet bird did follow,
Nor any day for food or play
Came to the mariner’s hollo!

And I had done a hellish thing,
And it would work ’em woe:
For all averred, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow …

Coleridge 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'

 

 

Mark Johnston  Burning Waters  Oil on Canvas 90 x 120 cm.

Bath sizzles in the heat, and Ashraf Hanna's elegant tall vessel positively glows in lemon yellow flush in the over-abundance of light.  

 

 

Ashraf Hanna Yellow Vessel with Undulating Rim, Ashraf Hanna Clay, 45 x 19 x 19 cm. 

 

In the garden of an evening it's great to lie back and stare at the sky and see what shapes can be made from the high-up wisp of cirrus clouds....
 

Morning Cirrus Porcelain 28 x 28 x 54 cm.  £6,300

 

I did attempt to see some perseid meteors yesterday evening (without success). What I did see was a pair of hedgehogs snuffling hrough the fallen leaves. I can't resist including this in the week of Larkin's anniversary, as a couple of lines at the end make up for the preceeding mortal calamity...
 

The mower stalled, twice; kneeling, I found   
A hedgehog jammed up against the blades,   
Killed. It had been in the long grass.
 
I had seen it before, and even fed it, once.   
Now I had mauled its unobtrusive world   
Unmendably. Burial was no help:
 
Next morning I got up and it did not.
The first day after a death, the new absence   
Is always the same; we should be careful
 
Of each other, we should be kind   
While there is still time.


The Mower by Philip Larkin

If you are visiting us in Bath this weekend, it is worth seeing an exhibition by a friend of mine, Hiroko Sherwin. It is called  'Songs of Nature'and is at 44AD gallery, 50 metres from the gallery on York Street.

 

Thank you for reading.
 Aidan

August 2, 2024