Saturday, March 21, 2009

newfoundland, coincidence, celandine

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Seal, the Newfoundland who lives in the house on the corner of the Grove.

Two French words, which I always used to confuse are éblouir, to dazzle, and épanouir, to bloom. How pleasing then to day to find in A la recherche du temps perdu, a sentence which contains both words, and which should therefore, I hope, banish my problem for good. Marcel is left by his friend, Saint-Loup's in a suburban road, while Saint-Loup collects his girlfriend from her apartment. Marcel is struck, as he is wont to be by such sights, by the cherry and pear blossoms towering above him in some front gardens and the way the gardens ..." éblouissaient par l'épanouissment de leurs cerisiers et de leurs poiriers en fleur...", were dazzled with cherry and pear blossom.

There is a triangular piece of land mostly planted with shrubs and bulbs, which is known locally as the "village green". Sad to say, an over enthusiastic gardener last year grubbed out the lesser celandine that brighten the ground under the shrubs in the spring, with their yellow star-shaped flowers. It seemed as though lights had been extinguished. But, now, a little later than usual, I note that the flowers are back, pushing up a bit late, but bright as ever through the dead leaves.

5 comments:

Roderick Robinson said...

So you suffered from the épanouir blockage too. I looked it up a dozen times before I finally fixed it in my frontal lobes. I have subsequently sought legitimate opportunities to use it but have been unsuccessful. I have used it several times illegitimately to the confusion of various innocent citoyens who are my prey.

Unknown said...

Then there was the problem with épuiser and ésquisser, which is now behind me. The words are quite differently structured so I am a little ashamed of the confusion they caused.

The Crow said...

I was unfamiliar with the name of the plant you mentioned and was pleasantly surpried to find it to be the up-to-now unnamed plant that grows at odd places in my yard. You've answered a question I've asked myself for more than 25 years now, but never followed up on until today.

Martha

Unknown said...

Martha, you will also have noticed its heart-shaped leaves, another asset, I always think.

Lucy said...

Thank you for showing us Seal!