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Pieris japonica<\/i><\/b> in Liverpool front gardens<\/b><\/p>\n
\nIt has an undeniably Japanese look.
\n
\nIt embodies the principles of contrast and asymmetry.
\n
\nIts twisting woody stems are like laid paths in a Japanese garden, that open onto unexpected vistas.
\n
\nIts leaf-growth, lying at different heights, suggests rock-terraces.
\n
\nThe scarlet of new growth contrasts definitively with the green of its older leaves, and the cream-white of its clustering flowers is restful, like broderie anglaise against summer lawns.
\n
\nIt is far more beautiful and strange than its surroundings.
\n
\nAgain and again it is a small but pleasant shock, like hearing German spoken on an English street and being called abruptly into that different self.
\n
\nIt punctuates.<\/p>\n
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Rheidol Valley<\/b><\/p>\n
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Within a semicircle on the isolated hill.
\nBy the seashore between the estuaries.
\nThe monument. Excavated. Defended.
\nA high bank with stone ramparts and ditches.
\nThe natural slope of the ground. The entrance.
\n
\nTo the south-east, and at each corner holes. Into the solid rock.
\nGreat posts to hold the gates, strengthen the turn of the wall.
\nThe stone facing. Along the inside of the wall. Close against two sides.
\nSolitary.
\n
\nIn the extreme south-east there is no sign.
\nThey continued to live their old lives. A straighter line over the hill.
\nOften very beautiful. Cut out of the solid rock.
\n
\nAbove Taliesin foxgloves and wild roses. It is not known.
\nThe remains of a causeway. Three miles upstream from the north.
\nAlmost hidden by moss. Straight on through a pinewood. Much more luminous.
\n
\nA steep climb. A lovely way up. Yellow gorse and young green bracken.
\nHalf an acre of bluebells like a sheet of water.
\nThe real way is uncertain again.
\n
\nObvious once you know where to look. The lower hillside track.
\nCopper mines. The precipices. Flat green meadows. The abbey.
\nSometimes fringed with yellow irises.
\nPale green on the black of its surface.
\n <\/p>\n
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Twenty-Five Views of Japan<\/b>
\n
\nI
\n
\nThe better part of June
\nThe cloudy sky
\nBehind a palisade
\nGutters choking
\n
\n <\/p>\n
II
\n
\nQueer evergreens
\nSmooth and pallid
\nA sticky spire
\nDisconsolate on stormy days
\n
\n
\nIII
\n
\nA three-storeyed plainly built wooden structure
\nA small lake
\nInner rectitude
\nVirtues of the unexpressed
\n
\n
\nIV
\n
\nLittle elbow-room
\nA cupboard and a gas stove
\nA crumpled tin
\nCigarettes
\n
\n
\nV
\n
\nA forest of stone cylinders
\nSomething still alive
\nUnwilling to answer the summons
\nFoxes on pedestals
\n
\n
\nVI
\n
\nSweet-stuff and paper toys
\nDiameter of a sixpenny piece
\nA button or a box of matches
\nSimply indifferent
\n
\n
\nVII
\n
\nRed azaleas
\nGreen mats
\nBlack butterflies
\nPerplexing
\n
\n
\nVIII
\n
\nNot an island and not a tree
\nSymbolic or fantastic
\nFidelity to the observed groupings
\nExquisitely stylized
\n
\n
\nIX
\n
\nA thousand islands of distinctive beauty
\nAn electric train
\nSo efficient
\nSo anxious to strike a bargain
\n
\n
\nX
\n
\nPrettily set with coloured offerings
\nShinto mirrors
\nCopper or silver coin
\nInfinitely more vital
\n
\n
\nXI
\n
\nFresh-coloured and sharp-scented
\nFiery scarlet red
\nLess beautiful \u2013 though very beautiful
\nGreenish-dark
\n
\n
\nXII
\n
\nBare elegance
\nHeavy snow
\nCumbrous silks
\nAlways harsh
\n
\n
\nXIII
\nA certain degree of austerity
\nA resilience that never flags
\nA pleasant but also a respectable institution
\nAn aimless call
\n
\n
\nXIV
\n
\nShining bronze-pink leaves
\nStone foxes
\nPaper windows
\nSilence
\n
\n
\nXV
\n
\nIntricate as a feverish dream
\nSugared American dance tunes
\nAnchored barges
\nA cluster of little bells
\n
\n
\nXVI
\n
\nA dozen painted skiffs
\nA tufted island
\nA memento of the afternoon
\nYoung maples
\n
\n
\nXVII
\n
\nThe voice of the American star
\nQueer elysium
\nThe magic of a full-blown talkie
\nPlatonic sensualist
\n
\n
\nXVIII
\n
\nTattered swallowtails
\nFallen dryad with gauzy wings
\nMechanical toys
\nCruel paws
\n
\n
\nXIX
\n
\nThick viridian moss
\nSolemn stones
\nFine breath of mounting steam
\nA nameless insect
\n
\n
\nXX
\n
\nIn the \u2018modern style\u2019
\nVitreous green
\nA bough of blossoming cherry
\nGold-stopped teeth
\n
\n
\nXXI
\n
\nA secret
\nTill three o\u2019clock or four o\u2019clock
\nThe passage-room
\nAt midnight the last trams
\n
\n
\nXXII
\n
\nSeven months
\nOur formality
\nA moment\u2019s patience
\nSometimes cheerful
\n
\n
\nXXIII
\n
\nA double sliding-door
\nA curious mica finish
\nNarrow roof-joists
\nA casket
\n
\n
\nXXIV
\n
\nTumbled skyline
\nPine-boughs
\nGrass-spears
\nUntroubled water
\n
\n
\nXXV
\n
\nThe garden beyond the fence
\nA clear but sunless sky
\nA shabby place
\nA pond, usually empty<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pieris japonica in Liverpool front gardens It has an undeniably Japanese look. It embodies the principles of contrast and asymmetry. Its twisting woody stems are like laid paths in a Japanese garden, that open onto unexpected vistas. Its leaf-growth, lying at different heights, suggests rock-terraces. The scarlet of new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[298,299],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n