4529 State Highway Two

4529 State Highway Two, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

I long to quiet my anxious heart
and stand beneath the sky's immensity.
I long to pray...
And one of all the stars
must still exist.
I do believe that I would know
which one alone
endured,
and which like a white city stands
at the ray's end shining in the heavens. "
— Rainer Maria Rilke

Another one from the archives, this time from 2008 :-)

* Pentax K100D and Pentax SMC DA-18-55mm Lens

Flowers for the Bride

Flowers for the Bride, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

These are thy wonders, Lord of love,
To make us see we are but flowers that glide;
Which when we once can find and prove,
Thou hast a garden for us where to bide;
Who would be more,
Swelling through store,
Forfeit their Paradise by their pride.

From The Flower By George Herbert

* Pentax K20D and Samsung D-Xenon 50-200mm Lens

Englefield House

Englefield House, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

Just down the road from Kate Middleton's home town of Bucklebury, Englefield House is one of the largest Country House estates still owned and lived in by the hereditary lord of the manor... who is also a serving Conservative MP.

The estate covers some 20,000 acres (8,100 ha), and its farm is one of the biggest benefactors in the UK of European Union agricultural subsidies.

New England.
And thus, alas, your state you much deplore
In general terms, but will not say wherefore.
What Medicine shall I seek to cure this woe,
If th’ wound’s so dangerous, I may not know?
But you, perhaps, would have me guess it out.
What, hath some Hengist like that Saxon stout
By fraud and force usurp’d thy flow’ring crown,
Or by tempestuous Wars thy fields trod down?

From A Dialogue between Old England and New By Anne Bradstreet

English Country Houses Series #3
Englefield House, Royal Berkshire

The final image in my English Country Houses tryptich :-)

Greenlands

Greenlands, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

Another English Country House, this time in Buckinghamshire, one of the Home Counties, what ho ;-)
Getting closer to the epicentre of Royal Wedding land... hard to avoid over here at the moment, believe me

Old England.
Art ignorant indeed of these my woes,
Or must my forced tongue these griefs disclose,
And must my self dissect my tatter’d state,
Which Amazed Christendom stands wondering at?
And thou a child, a Limb, and dost not feel
My weak’ned fainting body now to reel?
This physic-purging-potion I have taken
Will bring Consumption or an Ague quaking,
Unless some Cordial thou fetch from high,
Which present help may ease my malady.
If I decease, dost think thou shalt survive?
Or by my wasting state dost think to thrive?
Then weigh our case, if ‘t be not justly sad.
Let me lament alone, while thou art glad.

From A Dialogue between Old England and New By Anne Bradstreet

English Country Houses Series #2
Greenlands, Henley-on-Thames, Buckinghamshire

Mottram Hall

Mottram Hall, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

With the Royal Wedding coming up this Friday I thought I would post a series of English Country Houses... so very British of me you know, old chap :-)

New England.
Alas, dear Mother, fairest Queen and best,
With honour, wealth, and peace happy and blest,
What ails thee hang thy head, and cross thine arms,
And sit i’ the dust to sigh these sad alarms?
What deluge of new woes thus over-whelm
The glories of thy ever famous Realm?
What means this wailing tone, this mournful guise?
Ah, tell thy Daughter; she may sympathize.

From A Dialogue between Old England and New By Anne Bradstreet

English Country Houses Series #1
Mottram Hall, Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire

Southsea Sunset Seagull

Southsea Sunset Seagull, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

"Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly."
— Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull)

* Pentax K20D and Samsung D-Xenon 50-200mm Lens

Winking Out

Winking Out, originally uploaded by TomRaven.

"Sometimes I say to a poem,

"I don't have the strength
To wring out another drop
Of the sun."

And the poem will often
Respond

By climbing onto a barroom table:

Then lifts its skirt, winks,
Causing the whole sky to
Fall."
— شمس‌الدّین محمّد حافظِ شیرازی - Hafiz (The Gift)

* Pentax K20D and Samsung D-Xenon 50-200mm Lens

More at my blog A Raven Image