Bell

The Lake (Fewa Lake Pokhara)

In spring of youth it was my lot
To haunt of the wide world a spot
The which I could not love the less-
So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake, with black rock bound,
And the tall pines that towered around.

But when the Night had thrown her pall
Upon that spot, as upon all,
And the mystic wind went by
Murmuring in melody-
Then- ah then I would awake
To the terror of the lone lake.

Yet that terror was not fright,
But a tremulous delight-
A feeling not the jewelled mine
Could teach or bribe me to define-
Nor Love- although the Love were thine.

Death was in that poisonous wave,
And in its gulf a fitting grave
For him who thence could solace bring
To his lone imagining-
Whose solitary soul could make
An Eden of that dim lake.

Clouds

White sheep, white sheep,
On a green hill,
When the wind stops
You all stand still
When the wind blows
You walk away slow.
White sheep, white sheep,
Where do you go?

Nature's Playground

You hear the wind blow,
You hear the leaves rustle,
You hear the water sway,
All of the sounds that you hear...
Are nature at play!

Boys and Girls come out to play

Boys and girls come out to play
the moon doth shine as bright as day.
Leave your supper and leave your sleep
and join your playfellows in the street.
Come with a whoop and come with a call,
come with a good will or not at all.
Up the ladder and down the wall,
a half-penny loaf will serve us all;
you find milk and I'll find flour,
and we'll have pudding in half an hour.

Nature's Playground

You hear the wind blow,
You hear the leaves rustle,
You hear the water sway,
All of the sounds that you hear...
Are nature at play!

CLOUDS

AS I LAY UPON MY BACK LOOKING AT THE SKY,
WATCHING SOFT WHITE CLOUDS AS THEY ARE PASSING BY.
SOME WERE LARGE, AND SOME QUITE SMALL,
MANY DIFFERENT SHAPES AND SIZES AS I RECALL.

AS I LAY THERE AND WATCHED THE CLOUDS TAKE SHAPE,
FROM MY IMAGINATION A MILLION IMAGES, FROM IT DID ESCAPE.
I COULD SEE ANYTHING THAT WAS IN MY MIND'S EYE,
IN THOSE FLUFFY WHITE CLOUDS AS THEY WENT FLOATING BY.
THERE WAS NO LIMIT TO THE THINGS THAT I COULD SEE,
SPECIAL IMAGES FROM THE HEART TO BE.

FOR HOURS ON END, NO TWO IMAGES WERE EVER THE SAME,
AS THE CLOUDS ON THEIR JOURNEY CAME.
AS IF ON FILM, THIS MOVIE PLAYED,
WHILE QUIETLY ON MY BACK I STAYED.

MUSIC CAME TO THE MOVIE
THAT PLAYED IN THE SKY,
BY ALL THE DIFFERENT BIRDS, THEIR SONGS
AS THEY PASSED ME BY.

SO BEAUTIFULLY ORCHESTRATED
AND DONE FOR ME,
THE LORD CREATED THAT MOVIE
FOR ME TO SEE

Darkness

I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came and went - and came, and brought no day,
And men forgot their passions in the dread
Of this their desolation; and all hearts
Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light:
And they did live by watchfires - and the thrones,
The palaces of crowned kings - the huts,
The habitations of all things which dwell,
Were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed,
And men were gathered round their blazing homes
To look once more into each other's face;
Happy were those who dwelt within the eye
Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch:
A fearful hope was all the world contain'd;
Forests were set on fire - but hour by hour
They fell and faded - and the crackling trunks
Extinguish'd with a crash - and all was black.
The brows of men by the despairing light
Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits
The flashes fell upon them; some lay down
And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest
Their chins upon their clenched hands, and smiled;
And others hurried to and fro, and fed
Their funeral piles with fuel, and looked up
With mad disquietude on the dull sky,
The pall of a past world; and then again
With curses cast them down upon the dust,
And gnash'd their teeth and howl'd: the wild birds shriek'd,
And, terrified, did flutter on the ground,
And flap their useless wings; the wildest brutes
Came tame and tremulous; and vipers crawl'd
And twined themselves among the multitude,
Hissing, but stingless - they were slain for food.
And War, which for a moment was no more,
Did glut himself again; - a meal was bought
With blood, and each sate sullenly apart
Gorging himself in gloom: no love was left;
All earth was but one thought - and that was death,
Immediate and inglorious; and the pang
Of famine fed upon all entrails - men
Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh;
The meagre by the meagre were devoured,
Even dogs assail'd their masters, all save one,
And he was faithful to a corse, and kept
The birds and beasts and famish'd men at bay,
Till hunger clung them, or the dropping dead
Lured their lank jaws; himself sought out no food,
But with a piteous and perpetual moan,
And a quick desolate cry, licking the hand
Which answered not with a caress - he died.
The crowd was famish'd by degrees; but two
Of an enormous city did survive,
And they were enemies: they met beside
The dying embers of an altar-place
Where had been heap'd a mass of holy things
For an unholy usage; they raked up,
And shivering scraped with their cold skeleton hands
The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath
Blew for a little life, and made a flame
Which was a mockery; then they lifted up
Their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld
Each other's aspects - saw, and shriek'd, and died -
Even of their mutual hideousness they died,
Unknowing who he was upon whose brow
Famine had written Fiend. The world was void,
The populous and the powerful - was a lump,
Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless -
A lump of death - a chaos of hard clay.
The rivers, lakes, and ocean all stood still,
And nothing stirred within their silent depths;
Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea,
And their masts fell down piecemeal: as they dropp'd
They slept on the abyss without a surge -
The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave,
The moon their mistress had expir'd before;
The winds were withered in the stagnant air,
And the clouds perish'd; Darkness had no need
Of aid from them - She was the Universe.

Not knowing your destination is half the fun!

Not knowing your destination is half the fun!

Adventure in Nepal

"Be careful going in search of adventure - it's ridiculously easy to find."

Adventure

"Nature has always something rare to show us....and the danger to life and limb is hardly greater than one would experience crouching deprecatingly beneath a roof."

Now is the time...

Now is the time; ah, friend, no longer wait
To scatter loving smiles and words of cheer
To those around whose lives are now so dear.
They may not meet you in the coming year.
Now is the time.