Country Colour

There is really nothing like the colours of the Australian countryside - or  the "Bush" as we call it.

A place on earth resplendent with the brightest hues of blue in the skies,

the palest taupe as trunks of the massive and towering gum trees,

golden fields of grass that streak to lemon and green besides the lovely full dams,

not forgetting the rusty brown red of the earth

and clear indigo blue of the crystal clear creeks.

Nature's palette at it's very best.

I think this lovely poem says it all far more eloquently than I can  ....

THE COLOURS OF LIGHT

This is not easy to understand

For you that come from a distant land

Where all the COLOURS are low in pitch -

Deep purples, emeralds deep and rich,

Where autumn's flaming and summer's green -

Here is a beauty you have not seen.

 

All is pitched in a higher key,

Lilac, topaz, and ivory,

Palest jade-green and pale clear blue

Like aquamarines that the sun shines through,

Golds and silvers, we have at will -

Silver and gold on each plain and hill,

Silver-green of the myall leaves,

Tawny gold of the garnered sheaves,

Silver rivers that silent slide,

Golden sands by the water-side,

 

Golden wattle, and golden broom,

Silver stars of the rosewood bloom;

Amber sunshine, and smoke-blue shade:

Opal colours that glow and fade;

On the gold of the upland grass

Blue cloud-shadows that swiftly pass;

Wood-smoke blown in an azure mist;

Hills of tenuous amethyst. . .

 

Oft the colours are pitched so high

The deepest note is the cobalt sky;

We have to wait till the sunset comes

For shades that feel like the beat of drums -

Or like organ notes in their rise and fall -

Purple and orange and cardinal,

Or the peacock-green that turns soft and slow

To peacock-blue as the great stars show . . .

 

Sugar-gum boles flushed to peach-blow pink;

Blue-gums, tall at the clearing's brink;

Ivory pillars, their smooth fine slope

Dappled with delicate heliotrope;

Grey of the twisted mulga-roots;

Golden-bronze of the budding shoots;

Tints of the lichens that cling and spread,

Nile-green, primrose, and palest red . . .

 

Sheen of the bronze-wing; blue of the crane;

Fawn and pearl of the lyrebird's train;

Cream of the plover; grey of the dove -

These are the hues of the land I love.

  Dorothea MacKellar

(Photos taken at Beedelup Falls and Ballingup, Western Australia)

Comments

[Terri Morse]

I can hardly find words to describe what I feel as I see this land through your lens. Your soul shines through your photography. Hugs, Terri

[Marcie]

Truly beautiful..and such wonderful color!

[Mother Bear]

Thanks for a magic few days, sorry we dodn't have some better photo weather. OXOX M

[grrlandog]

MM..

The creek almost looks like it has platypus in it...

[Joanne Thime Huffman]

Beautiful photos of beautiful landscapes.

[Chris]

Gorgeous water. Isn't that stunning? I love that you convey SO much with your photography.

[Chantal]

How I wish I was there with you!

[karen burns]

How very beautiful. Love the perspective on that first image.
Enjoy every sky, every minute!

~~karen

[Bren]

You know I love and appreciate the colours of your country immensely! You're photos are wonderful, just look at that gum tree! Great stuff.

[Jo Murray]

As a fellow Aussie I am thoroughly in tune with this post. Great photos an choice of poem.