| Waiting at Olana |
[Aug. 12th, 2002|09:18 pm]
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Went upriver for a pleasant weekend featuring a visit to Olana, the home of artist Frederick Church. Click on his sketch above for a recent photograph and something about his life and vision.
Olana offers wonderful views of the Catskills across one of the world's great rivers, toward the grave of John Burroughs, which I am glad to have visited so many years ago. Because I am too tired to offer much of my own tonight, I give you this poem of his. You may already know it. I hope you do. But if you do, you will not mind seeing it again here:
Waiting
Serene, I fold my hands and wait,
Nor care for wind, nor tide, nor sea;
I rave no more 'gainst Time or Fate,
For lo! My own shall come to me.
I stay my haste, I make delays,
For what avails this eager pace?
I stand amid the eternal ways
And what is mine shall know my face.
Asleep, awake, by night or day,
The friends I seek are seeking me;
No wind can drive my bark astray,
Nor change the tide of destiny.
What matter if I stand alone?
I wait with joy the coming years;
My heart shall reap where it hath sown,
And garner up its fruit of tears.
The waters know their own, and draw
The brook that springs in yonder heights;
So flows the good with equal law
Unto the soul of pure delights.
The stars come nightly to the sky;
The tidal wave comes to the sea;
Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,
Can keep my own away from me.
--John Burroughs |
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| Comments: |
Yes, our Catskills are one of the most beautiful places on earth; and our Hudson is glorious. I love waiting for the train in Rhinecliff, watching the river flow by.
Hello Frank..
Thank you for adding me to your friends list..... and in turn you will be a welcomed addition to mine.
Olana....... it truly is beautiful.
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/55670236/615939) | From:  arisbe
2002-08-19 10:05 am (UTC)
Re: Olana | (Link)
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It is quite wonderful. The rooms were designed as much to look out of as to look into as tourists now do. To the tourist's eye it is a little cramped -- but Church built it for his very short wife! Many of the walls were designed as frames for living landscapes.
And thank you very much for adding me.
Frank | |
