Gazing at the Landscape

I walked out the side door of the manor this morning at 6:30 am. Thrushes were singing, the poppies were still wet, and the great lawns were full of rabbits at flayrah. The clouds were low, and a fresh breeze from the south promised rain. I walked down to the pond to see the great blue herons and the moor hens. In the grey morning, the white beaks of the moor hens seemed too bright to belong to such dark birds. At home, my morning walk is a brisk trot with my faithful hound, Max, around our suburban working class neighborhood. There are no thrushes to hear, but the air sometimes feels the same. But here, on the long drive, with the manor hulking on the hill behind the fields of grain and poppies, there was a more open feeling that encouraged me to think more widely. Later in the morning I would talk about the nature of the sublime accessed through the landscape, and I was so full of joy to feel that sublimity of space, treeline, skyline, and poppies waving in the green fields under fast grey clouds.

In class today, I outlined the waterfall of reasoning that leads from myth to landscape and how we create landscapes through a deliberate guiding of gaze to reify our beliefs. The manor is a great example of the guided gaze from the carefully constructed gardens to the deliberate long drive. Behind the manor is a work area where they are repairing the Grotto. It is such a juxtaposition of conflicting genres to see the Work in all the studied leisure.

I am impressed by the energy of the students. They have excellent commentary, and a refreshing willingness to engage with the material. I am very much looking forward to hearing what they have to say about the Bronte texts we are reading. We discussed the different literary lenses with which to see the texts, and we have some devoted Reader Response people here, as well as some Historical/Biographical critics. We are also fortunate to have a visual artist among us. Her photos are well worth checking out at the Sea and Color blog. If you look at the Verbivore blog, you will see hysterical pictures of how Grantham honors its famous native son, Sir Isaac Newton.