Muir Song from Janssen Powers on Vimeo.
The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls…
We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us. …thrilling with the air and trees, streams and rocks, in the waves of the sun,—a part of all nature, neither old nor young, sick nor well, but immortal.
…and every bird song, wind song, and tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love.
John Muir is one of the most powerful writers of all time. The simplicity in which he lived and the depth at which he felt are immense, as is the nature he describes. "The trees...bloom in our bodies as well as our souls". After seeing Sequoia and Yosemite this past week it is no wonder they drew him in for good.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the dates of "My First Summer in the Sierra" he must have been around 39 years old when he first started publishing his work. I would love to take a grander look at his biography and see when his vision truly took off. So many of us feel what John Muir writes about but the way in which he sees, I feel, is on a level that could only be learned from hours upon hours in solitude with the trail...
The title of this video is marvelous. "....is our song, our very own, and sings our love." We are Nature and Nature is us.
It was a cool idea. Muir's words are pretty powerful. I always wanted to get into Muir's writings but never did for whatever reason.
ReplyDeleteMe too...I listened to a little of Travels in Alaska on audiobook this week and man, he got me planning a camping trip already this weekend to North Shore Oahu. Poetry in motion...
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