FERN

Ted Hughes, 1930-1998, British

 

 

Here is the fern’s frond, unfurling a gesture,

 

 

 

Like a conductor whose music will now be pause

And the one note of silence

To which the whole earth dances gravely –

 

 

A Bear’s Paw fern at the ‘Victorian’ Fernery, Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

 

A dancer, leftover, among crumbs and remains

 

 

 

Of God’s drunken supper,

 

 

 

Dancing to start things up again.

 

 

a tree fern at the ‘Victorian’ Fernery, Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

 

 

 

native Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda Cinnamomea)

native Cinnamon Fern

 

 

And they do start up – to the one note of silence.

 

 

native cinnamon fern

 

The mouse’s ear unfurls its trust.

 

 

 

The spider takes up her bequest.

 

 

Mt. Cuba,  Hockessin, Delaware

 

 

And the retina

Reins the Creation with a bridle of water.

 

 

Mt. Cuba, Hockessin, DE in July and August

 

 

How many went under? Everything up to this point went under.

 

 

 

 

 

Now they start up again

 

 

 

Dancing gravely, like the plume

 

 

 

 

Of a warrior returning, under the low hills,

 

 

Armor for Man and Horse. Steel, leather, copper alloy, textile. Man’s armor c. 1570. Horse armor c. 1580-1590.

Armor probably made in Milan and Brescia. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

 

 

Into his own kingdom.

 

 

 

In Between Seasons, 2021, digital pigment print. 

Sarah Butler (no other information); student exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia in 2021