Dappled things

Pied Beauty

Glory be to God for dappled things--
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced--fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise Him

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Take from this poem what you will - but most of all enjoy the words.


.......and in case you're wondering, from L to R:
Guinea Fowl (last seen on a bird in Westbury)
Pheasant (deceased, last seen disappearing down Wilson's throat.)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (last spotted flying over the dingle)