The band of silver paleness along the east horizon made even the distant parts of the great plain appear dark and near; and the whole enormous landscape bore that impress of reserve, taciturnity, and hesitation which is usual just before day. The eastward pillars and their architraves stood up blackly against the light,and the great flame shaped Sun-stone beyond them; and the stone of sacrifice midway.
Presently the night wind died out,and the quivering little pools in the cup-like hollows of the stones lay still.
Tess of the D'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy 1891.
5 comments:
kay - this is the time of year that i read hardy. i love his writing. i visited stonehenge around twenty five years ago. i loved the whole region - dorset especially. i grew up in mnachester and for us crewe was as far south as we travelled. dorset/wessex has that lovely ancent vibe that permeates hardy's writing. thanks for this!!! steven
Ah Steven..I to love dorset and used to live there..my most favourite place in the world are the heaths around Wareham.where you can stand and turn full circle seeing castles...rivers and sea..it has a special place in my heart.
On another note..My dad used to say that waiting as an army cadet on Crewe station was the coldest place on earth!!!
Hope the kids are behaving!!!
Stonehenge has always been so compelling to me. I want to see it someday. Beautiful images paired with the Hardy. Sigh.
Thanks for calling in Willow...we hope to go on winter solstice this year so you can walk right up to the stones...english heritage who look after stonehenge keep you so far back that the stones true size is dimminished..but so many people visit I guess they have to :(
Tess used to be one of my favourite books - just love his descriptions of the West Country landscape - he obviously really loved it here. Your pictures are just awesome. Truly. It's difficult to take pictures of something that's so ingrained in the general consciousness that it has almost become a cliche, yet yours are somehow fresh and, well, just beautiful.
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