Wednesday 7 March 2018

First Sight

First Sight

Lambs that learn to walk in snow
When their bleating clouds the air
Meet a vast unwelcome, know 
Nothing but a sunless glare.
Newly stumbling to and fro
All they find, outside the fold,
Is a wretched width of cold.

As they wait beside the ewe,
Her fleeces wetly caked, there lies
Hidden round them, waiting too,
Earth's immeasurable surprise.
They could not grasp it if they knew,
What so soon will wake and grow
Utterly unlike the snow.


                                     Philip Larkin


Just 1 hour old; twins. The first of this year's lambs.
Fortunately the snow has gone but it was a cold night.

3 comments:

  1. We always used to lamb around cols birthday - 11th and it always seemed blinkin' cold in the lambing shed! We often put a heat lamp in and would find Mum sitting plum underneath with a look of bliss on her face!

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  2. That’s a lovely image and about right, Sue. Temperatures should be on the rise over the next few days.

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  3. Great photograph and a great poem. Twins too!

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