A Rhythm of Cycles
12/05/21 • 34 min
You join us on (another)stormy night, but this one is moonless and black as tar. It is the night of the new moon – the Cold Moon or the Long Night Moon. The phases of the moon give us an opportunity to contemplate the intricate play of cycles all around us and how the mirror, challenge and provide direction for our lives.
Journal entry:
“3rd December, Friday
The tops of the trees is Shakespeare’s wood have disappeared in cloud.
A defrosted world, smothered in mist and pearled with beads of water.
The canal looks opaque.
A soup of leaf and silt.
Unfathomable and still.
A jackdaw hides in plain sight amongst the wind-left leaves of an oak
As a rabbit sits up and watches us pass.“
Episode Information
For more information about the phases of the moon and the names given to the moon each month, the Royal Museums Greenwich, have an excellent website: Why do we have special names for full moons?
In this episode I read the following poems:
RS Thomas ‘The Moon in Lleyn’ from his (1984) RS Thomas Later Poems: 1972-1982 published by Papermac.
David Whyte ‘Faith’ from his (1990) Where Many Rivers Meet published by Many Rivers Press.
Walter de la Mare (1922) ‘Silver’ multiple publishing.
General Details
In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.
Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence.
Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.
All other audio recorded on site.
Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram:
Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.
Contact
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
- Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.
For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters
You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.
You join us on (another)stormy night, but this one is moonless and black as tar. It is the night of the new moon – the Cold Moon or the Long Night Moon. The phases of the moon give us an opportunity to contemplate the intricate play of cycles all around us and how the mirror, challenge and provide direction for our lives.
Journal entry:
“3rd December, Friday
The tops of the trees is Shakespeare’s wood have disappeared in cloud.
A defrosted world, smothered in mist and pearled with beads of water.
The canal looks opaque.
A soup of leaf and silt.
Unfathomable and still.
A jackdaw hides in plain sight amongst the wind-left leaves of an oak
As a rabbit sits up and watches us pass.“
Episode Information
For more information about the phases of the moon and the names given to the moon each month, the Royal Museums Greenwich, have an excellent website: Why do we have special names for full moons?
In this episode I read the following poems:
RS Thomas ‘The Moon in Lleyn’ from his (1984) RS Thomas Later Poems: 1972-1982 published by Papermac.
David Whyte ‘Faith’ from his (1990) Where Many Rivers Meet published by Many Rivers Press.
Walter de la Mare (1922) ‘Silver’ multiple publishing.
General Details
In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.
Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence.
Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.
All other audio recorded on site.
Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram:
Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.
Contact
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
- Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.
For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters
You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.
Previous Episode
It was a dark and stormy night...
The after-effects of the booster jab are just beginning to slam into me and so tonight’s episode is going to be fairly short. However, you join us on a very cold and stormy night as Storm Arwen with its ‘screaming northerlies’ batters the boat and brings with it our first snows of the winter, but the boat is warm, the hatches are battened and, as always, there is a very warm welcome awaiting you.
Journal entry:
“27th November, Saturday
Mum, you would have loved days like this.
And to sit beside the glowing stove and feel the wind hug the boat.
But the leaf is now fallen from the tree of my life
leaving silence where there was once an anchor of love
and a stack of dog-eared books.
Somewhere on this howling wind rides your love
and it makes it feel a little less cold.
Happy birthday.”
Episode Information
In this episode I read Mum’s favourite poem ‘Nicholas Nye’ by Walter de la Mare.
You can read the poem here: Nicholas Nye.
General Details
In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.
Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence.
Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.
All other audio recorded on site.
Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected]
Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.
Contact
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
- Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.
For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters
You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.
Next Episode
Winter Wisdom (Wintrum frod)
Following the epic weather of the past few weeks, we go back in time to a period that best celebrated this type of weather. In this episode we explore why the enigmatic appeal of Anglo-Saxon poetry and its fascination (or even obsession) with winter casts such an enduring influence on our culture. It is the perfect type of literature for cold winter nights, but there are also other deeper traits that remain deeply rooted in our shared cultural memories that inform our attitudes to winter.
Journal entry:
“8th December, Wednesday
Storm Barra is barrelling around the boat
Harrying and jostling us,
So that the roaring world tips and sways.
The darkness is flecked silver with rain
As Penny and I walk into a howling dawn. “
Episode Information
In this episode I mention the following books:
Michael Alexander’s (2006) The Earliest English Poems Penguin Classics series, published by Penguin Books.
Alexandra Harris’ (2015) Weatherland: Writers and artists under English skies published by Thames and Hudson.
I read excerpts from the following poems (Michael Alexander’s translations):
The Ruin (alternative translation)
Exeter riddle 73 (other texts count it as 74)
For those wanting to explore the world of Anglo Saxon and Old English literature, you might find this website, created by Dr Aaron Hostetter from Rutgers University, very helpful: An Old English Poetry Project.
A digital version of the Exeter Book produced c.970 (in which the above are featured) can be viewed here: Exeter Book
I also mentioned Andy Grifee’s narrowboat-based crime series featuring
Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.
Contact
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
- Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.
For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters
You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/nighttime-on-still-waters-197775/a-rhythm-of-cycles-19464088"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to a rhythm of cycles on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy