Tree, like a sooty finger, starts from the earth
I pace upon the battlements and stare
On the foundations of a house, or where
Tree, like a sooty finger, starts from the earth;
And send imagination forth
Under the day’s declining beam, and call
Images and memories
From ruin or from ancient trees,
For I would ask a question of them all.– William Butler Yeats, The Tower
“Tree, like a sooty finger, starts from the earth.” I recall a perfect moment of quiet and contemplation at Coole Park, Ireland, home of Yeats’ patron, Lady Gregory. A feeling of being one with the earth and those who celebrate it with art and poetry.
– with love for the journey.
Photograph by Lou Ann Granger, September 2010










