A-Z Challenge 2013 - 'D' - Daffodils

My A-Z posts this year are based on my garden – flowers, animals, the birds and the bees, butterflies - with a bit of poetry thrown in. For some letters I am expecting to cheat somewhat – a sort of wish they were here.

D - Daffodils, Daisy, Dandelion, Dove, Dunnock

There is only one way to start this post; with William Wordsworth, of course,

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hill,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Daffodils

 Wordsworth spent of lot of time in the Lake District which enabled him too write:

In youth from rock to rock I went,

From hill to hill in discontent

Of pleasure high and turbulent,

Most pleased when most uneasy;

But now my own delights I make, -

My thirst at every rill can slake,

and gladly Nature's love partake

of Thee, sweet Daisy!

Daisies

Somehow I think these were not the type of daisy meant by Wordsworth. 

Daisies in the lawn are not to be encouraged nor is the dandelion is a plant we want to see:

A Patch of Dandelions

 With locks of gold today;

Tomorrow, silver grey;

Dandelion Seed Head

 Then blossom-bald. Behold,

O man, they fortune told!

 The hedge sparrow (dunnock) is a common garden bird that enthrals you with its song:

Dunnock

 A dunnock perched content on outhouse beams,
Plump-feathered in striped brown and misty grey,
That I disturbed from drowsy dunnock dreams
To startled flight. Away! Escape! Away!

If we are to escape let’s have some fun before we go:

Let's take off all our clothes. It's time for shamelessness.
On nights of self-reflection, we go skinny-dipping with our self-perception.
We join the stars dancing on the water
and we emerge, red-skinned not red-faced. A collared dove coo-coo-coos

Collared Dove

At one time the collard dove was a very common visitor to our garden; now it has been crowded out by the ubiquitous wood pigeon.

A late candidate for inclusion in this post is:

A Dog in Disgrace

 Poems

• I wandered lonely as a cloud – Wordsworth
• To the Daisy - Wordsworth
• The Dandelion – John B Tabb
• Dunnock – Alan Hartley
• The Collared Dove – Alexander Hawkins

Photo attributions:

• Patch of Dandelions – By Robert Engelhart – CC BY-SA 3.0
• Dandelion Seed Head – By Tony Hisgett, Birmingham, UK – CC BY-SA 2.0
• Dunnock – by Dr Raju Kasambe – CC BY-SA 3.0
• Collared Dove – Adrian Pingstone – Public domain