Nature rarer uses yellow…

Lady Nature is no spendthrift! She is tightfisted when it comes to yellow…She doesn’t mind splurging all other hues all around, but she saves all the yellows for Sunsets! The bright and resplendent Yellow: the colour of prosperity, joy, warmth; the colour that fills you with cheer and hope! The colour of the metal that king Midas fell in love with.

NATURE rarer uses yellow
Than another hue;
Saves she all of that for sunsets,—
Prodigal of blue,

Spending scarlet like a woman,
Yellow she affords
Only scantly and selectly,
Like a lover’s words.

Emily Dickinson

Magnificent Phnom Penh sunsets!

The poem is rich in metaphors like all Dickinson poems; every word is carefully chosen and is in association with riches and wealth. Nature is ‘prodigal’ when she uses blue…her extravagant nature knows no bounds  in the infinite use of blues of the Sky and the Sea! Like a woman of passion she splashes scarlet too, lavishly. But she is prudent while spending yellow; she can ‘afford’ it ‘scantly’ as she has to ‘save’ it …not every sunset is lucky to be drenched in a golden glow. (Here the poet compares the judicious use of yellow to the words of a lover).

To my delight many a time in Phnom Penh I have met this wise lady bedecked in gold and have captured this dazzling beauty in all her splendour and glory!

Golden Glory!

nota bene:

Dear Emily, I wish you visited Phnom Penh and met this extravagant Lady Nature who splashes her yellows on the cascades of Laburnum flowers and all over the magnificent and unbelievably golden sunsets! (One may very well doubt the authenticity of the photos, so vibrant and striking are the yellows)

Advertisements