Monday 12 April 2010

TO SEE THE CHERRY HUNG WITH SNOW

THE PRINCE'S CHAMBERMAID is on sale now and features the hero's older brother - King Casimiro (who is absolutely gorgeous!). A reader obviously agreed since I've just received a delightful email, saying:

Can't wait for the new book - you know, sometimes a character gets mentioned and you think "I hope the author writes their story"?
never in all the many years of reading have I felt so compelled that a character have their own story as I did with Casimiro in 'The Princes' Chambermaid'.

The good news is that I've already written it! It's called THE ROYAL BABY REVELATION and here's a sneak preview of the cover, set in Casimiro's lavish, golden-vaulted palace.



Meanwhile, I'm off to enjoy the spring sunshine (to inject life into my writing, of course!). Everywhere I look I see frills of saffron yellow daffodils and the pastel froth of blossom trees in bloom. So how could I not include the loveliest spring-time poem of all and be glad of the opportunity to say it out loud....?

LOVELIEST OF TREES
by A. E. Housman

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.





What do you like best about spring-time?

8 comments:

  1. Nice cover, Shazza!

    Best about spring? Blossom. We have a tree in our front garden that always looks spectacular at the end of April. (I remember my daughter's christening - we took a few shots of her with the tree as background and she looked SO cute!

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  2. I love to see the lambs running riot in the fields, swallows returning, the cuckoo calling, blossom laden branches, bright splashes of colour from spring flowers and the fresh green leaves unfurling on the trees. After a winter like we've just had these lovely sunny spring days give you a much needed lift.

    I enjoyed The Prince's Chambermaid and I'm pleased to hear that Casimiro will have his story told too - looking forward to it.

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  3. Here I can’t but think of Giacomo Leopardi’s poem “L’infinito” (The infinite) – one of the most famous poems in Italian literary overview. It isn’t exactly about spring but about the never-ending cycle of things – as seasons. I also visited the poet’s house and private library in Recanati and they were astonishing.

    I’m posting the Italian text because:
    1)It’s written in ancient Italian and it requires an abstruse work of translation in every language – and verses are written with a different order – not in a colloquial language.
    2)If translated it couldn’t have the same and stunning effect than in its original language.

    Brief explanation of the composition: Leopardi - hedged by endless spaces – pictures his glance going beyond the horizon, more than his glance can really do. In this silence he suddenly hears a noise and he fantasizes about the cycle of seasons and the immensity of time.
    Keywords are: “dear hedge”, “horizon”, “glance”, “spaces”, “silences”, “wind”, “voices”, “seasons” – so trust me – it’s gorgeous! x

    L’infinito di Giacomo Leopardi

    Sempre caro mi fu quest'ermo colle,
    e questa siepe, che da tanta parte
    dell'ultimo orizzonte il guardo esclude.
    Ma sedendo e mirando, interminati
    spazi di là da quella, e sovrumani
    silenzi, e profondissima quiete
    io nel pensier mi fingo; ove per poco
    il cor non si spaura. E come il vento
    odo stormir tra queste piante, io quello
    infinito silenzio a questa voce
    vo comparando: e mi sovvien l'eterno,
    e le morte stagioni, e la presente
    e viva, e il suon di lei. Così tra questa
    immensità s'annega il pensier mio:
    e il naufragar m'è dolce in questo mare.

    I translate the last verse because it’s a MUST:
    Così tra questa immensità s’annega il pensier mio e il naufragar m’è dolce in questo mare.

    So – in this immensity is drowning my thought and wrecking is sweet in this sea.

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  4. "Sea" is a metaphor for Infinite of course. x

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  5. Lovely poem and cover Sharon. I love Spring. It's re-birth in all it's glory IMHO. Caroline x

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  6. That sounds so lovely, Michela - I have alerted my son (who speaks Italian),

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  7. I love Springtime, but here in Chicago, it's fleeting. It seems most years we move from Winter directly to Summer. We midwesterners bake during the Summer months and the high humidity - courtesy of the Great Lakes - is not much fun. I think I get the most pleasure during Springtime not from the awakening foliage but from people. It's a warm feeling seeing friends' and families' spirits brighten along with our surroundings. Winters can be harsh here, as this one was. But to see neighbors and their children outside enjoying the warm weather never fails to put a smile on my face.

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  8. Sharon, I'm sure he'll love the poem. x

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