A Galaxy Of Poems & A Bed Of Vines

I was at a small local secondhand bookshop when the lovely 60's print of this wonderful book of poems caught my eye. I grabbed it excitedly and added to my haul of books. It's the perfect book for reading on a relaxed afternoon in the garden, enjoying poems and poets both familiar and unfamiliar. It has work from poets and writers such as Shakespeare, Tennyson, Keats, Thomas Hardy, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Lord Byron, to others less heard of. To me it has similar qualities to charity shops. I love that charity shops have a range of things, old and new, to search through until you find something to treasure. You don't have to look for anything in particular, just search until something catches your eye (perhaps something that you're surprised you like, either because it's not what would be your usual style or because it's by a creator that you don't usually like). The same goes for this book. I find myself enjoying a variety of different poems and poets. From dark, morbid poems to seasonal poems with autumnal descriptions of golden pears, crisp light and overripe fruits, spring and summer poems telling of babbling brooks, blooming daffodils and faerie feasts.

I have only recently taken an interest in poetry and this book was an excellent place to start. I have taken a particular liking to Byron and Keats and I keep going back to Keats' poem 'To Autumn' every time I open the book. The lines in this beautiful poem are to be savoured, I particularly loved: "With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run; To bend with apples the moss'd cottage trees" and "While barréd clouds bloom the soft-dying day...".
Anyway, I just wanted to share my love of this book with you. The photos were taken by my mum this afternoon, we sat amongst the green vines that cover a large part of our garden, laughed and took pictures of each other. The vines are not as comfortable as they look.
Oh, and while we were on the subject of poetry, has anyone read this rather brilliant poem 'Our Generation' by a fourteen year old named Jordan Nichols?

In other news, I have just joined Pip Lincolne of Meet Me At Mike's and many other bloggers in Pip's A Year Of Ethical Fashion. I am taking the pledge to only wear ethically. "If I'm looking for things to wear I will only:

a) Buy from ethical makers or

b) Buy second-hand or

c) Make it myself  or

d) Wear things I already own or

e) Borrow or swap garments with friends" - The A Year Of Ethical Fashion pledge.  

You can join in here or on the YOEF Facebook group. I took the pledge in April last year after the tragic Bangladesh factory collapse that killed over one thousand workers. This year I'm continuing to wear ethically and have been introduced to some excellent labels thanks to what's been shared in the facebook group. 

On that note, I should tell you about my the clothes I'm wearing. The shorts (which are actually a darker emerald green) are vintage and were a present from my mum. The silk top is Little Green Dress and was borrowed from my sister. Little Green Dress is a 'slow fashion' label, the clothes are made from sustainable end of run fabrics and are Australian made. I'm even being ethical with my underwear choices: my bra underneath was bought a year or two ago (thankfully still fits well) and my knickers are from Who Made Your Pants? which is a company in the UK that gives fair wage jobs to women who need them to make underwear from end of run fabrics. They also tell you exactly who made them (my very comfortable Cecilia pants were made by Batol & Friends). I was also meant to have a hand-me-down black cardigan with that (so I could match the print of the book) but it was forgotten during the shoot.