Disclaimer:

Many stories herein are subject to the faulty, and sometimes creative, memory of the blog owner and should not be taken as factual, although the names and events are real! Kind of.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Pictures in the Flames

The chimney sweep came today and cleaned our fireplace and flue.  It was lovely to light a fire against the chill of the evening since we have yet to light the furnace.  As the scent of burning oak filled the room, fantastical scenes unfolded in the hearth.


Armies in the Fire
By Robert Louis Stevenson
The lamps now glitter down the street;
Faintly sound the falling feet;
And the blue even slowly falls
About the garden trees and walls.
Now in the falling of the gloom
The red fire paints the empty room:
And warmly on the roof it looks,
And flickers on the back of books.
Armies march by tower and spire
Of cities blazing, in the fire;–
Till as I gaze with staring eyes,
The armies fall, the lustre dies.
Then once again the glow returns;
Again the phantom city burns;
And down the red-hot valley, lo!
The phantom armies marching go!
Blinking embers, tell me true
Where are those armies marching to,
And what the burning city is
That crumbles in your furnaces!

2 comments:

Paula said...

Love this. Cool pic. I wish we would cool off enough for a fire.

DottiesDoodles said...

Love a real log fire too. Unfortunately, we have gas logs and it is just not the same. Only good thing is we don't have to carry in the wood or hire a chimmney sweep. LOL Lovely picture, by the way.

One Last Thought.......

Pleasant words are a honeycomb;
sweet to the soul and healing to the body.
Proverbs 16:
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