A trio of Wordsworth moments
Gerard Smith discovered his own host of golden daffodils in this week's WordSmith column...
Flowers, they’ve inspired poets and artists for centuries. The ultimate flowery-poem has to be William Wordsworths’: Daffodils. I’d say most people can recite its opening line, “I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er vales and hills, when all at once I saw a crowd, a host of golden daffodils…”
I had three Wordsworth moments this summer. The first was when I wandered up Fairgeen hill, lonely as a cow (I think they look lonelier than clouds). I was heading for Aldi with my head bowed in reflective mode, when all at once I saw a crowd. It wasn’t a host of golden daffodils, it was a bustling bevy of multicoloured Irish wildflowers, fluttering in a soft breeze while bees feasted on their life-giving nectar – it was a sight to behold, beautiful. I stopped to take a picture; and I noticed a lady doing the same on the street below. Like me, she was no doubt inspired to share their glory on her socials.
My second Wordsworth moment was on a recent grey and drizzly morning. I was in Dunnes when I got a call, “Are you coming down to us?” It was Paul from Cavan Tidy Towns. I walked down Farnham road, hasty as a hare (I’d forgotten I’d agreed to meet him there). I slowed to admire The Hands of Peace sculpture, when all at once I saw a crowd, a host of golden human-beings – it was a group of people wearing yellow-high-viz-vests. They were a collective of Tidy Town volunteers and Cavan County Council folk who have collaborated to transform a corner of Cavan.
The corner is down by the Mart where the river runs through the old-railway bridge. Paul said: “This area was becoming a venue for anti-social behaviour.” Bernie, the horticulturist, told me she was inspired to action when she met a couple of young lads fishing in the area and they asked her if someone could clear up the place. And so a collaboration formed and the team set to work. Personally, I recall walking past the spot not so long ago and feeling sad it was being used as a bin. As Paul and Bernie noted, the route along the Railway road is a much travelled one, especially for people on foot going to the hospital. So it was with a forward-thinking vision that they set out to turn a sad sight into an uplifting one. The team set to work: wildflowers were sown, using what was already on site, as well as adding other native Irish wildflowers (mindful not to introduce anything non-native and potentially invasive). The space was cleared, enhanced by sculptures and a bench, by Gintas Carvings, who use ash-die-back as their source material. I really like the considered theming of the space, which pays homage to The Great Northern Railway and its history in that area.
As the group in their high vis vests assembled for a group photograph, I was once again struck by the daffodil analogy. The daffodil is a hardy-bloom, able to withstand the sharpest frost to flourish. And more, the daffodil represents resilience, renewal and rebirth – the team are a hardy-bunch who have revived and renewed a neglected corner of Cavan, giving it a creatively blooming splendour. And in doing so, they’ve created a mindful space, which connects seamlessly with The Hands of Peace sculpture.
There is much analysis of Wordsworth’s Daffodils (so the purists don’t come at me, the actual title is ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud). Put simply, the sight of the flowers were a wonderous sight that lifted the spirits of a lonely poet.
When the team left, I lingered in the drizzle. I took a seat on Gintas’ carving, unbothered by a wet backside. I found a serenity about the space; and looking at the bouquet of Black-Eyed-Susan’s beaming their last hurrah in the late August rain, I had my third Wordsworth moment – I was genuinely uplifted.
I see poetry everywhere, and was reminded of another classic line, “I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree.” Sitting there in the mizzle amongst wilting wildflower and reclaimed tree, I saw poetry in its physical form; in a team of people coming together to mindfully renovate a space and have it bloom with the power of wildflower – that’s poetry-in-action.
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