JOYS

 Oh the Wild Joys of Living! -Robert Browning (1812-1889) from "SAUL"

 Oh, the wild joys of living!

 The leaping from rock to rock,

 The strong rending of boughs from the fir-tree, the cool silver shock

 Of the plunge in the pool's living water,

 the hunt of the bear,

 and the sultriness showing the lion is crouched in his lair.

 And the meal, the rich dates yellowed over the gold dust divine,

 And the locust flesh steeped in the pitcher,

 the full draft of wine,And the sleep in the dried river-channel where bulrushes tell

 that the water was wont to go warbling so softly and well.

 How good is one's life, the mere living! How fit to employ

 All the heart and the soul and the senses forever in JOY!

 Excerpt from Robert Browning's "Saul".  (Excerpt from 1948  1000 Beautiful Things Peoples Book Club, Chicago)

Photographs 2017