Henry David Thoreau & John Clare 
Fifty Shades of Nature 

Our senses revel in the incomparable majesty of the work of Mother Nature. The structure of the landscape, the multi-coloured mantle of trees and fauna, the myriad animals that wander and inhabit this glorious Earth. Nature conducts symphonies of sound as her world goes from day into the inky embrace of night.Our ears and eyes are constantly bathed in the wonder of her ways; the soft drizzle of rain from soft grey clouds, a wave caressing the shore and the ravenous colours of a departing sunset. Her invisible heartbeat is everywhere and for everyone. Indeed, whenever we look and listen to the vastness of Nature’s beauty she can placate our anger and soothe our pain, despite our knowledge of her destructive forces that create myriad tragedies. Still her vistas can energise us, feed our hearts and souls and prompt us to muse on the mysteries of life and death.Our sense of wonder is sometimes hard to describe, our feelings can overwhelm us or even leave us mute in astonishment. However, help is at hand. Our classic poets including the likes of Wordsworth, Whitman, Clare, and Dickinson use words in wondrous way to open our eyes and ears to the bounty and the plenty of Nature in fifty timeless classic.