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Moon and Apple by Rolf Jacobsen (1907 - 1994) Timeline English version by Robert Bly Original Language Norwegian Secular or Eclectic Christian : Catholic 20th Century When the apple tree blooms, the moon comes often like a blossom, paler than any of them, shining over the tree. It is the ghost of the summer, the white sister of the blossoms who returns to drop in on us, and radiate peace with her hands so that you shouldn't feel too bad when the hard times come. For the Earth itself is a blossom, she says, on the star tree, pale with luminous ocean leaves.     -- from The Winged Energy of Delight, Translated by Robert Bly Amazon.com   / Photo by Athena's Pix /	Themes   Bower   Moon   Spring Blossom   Tree   Water Recommended Books Night Music: Selected Poems, by Rolf Jacobsen / Translated by Robert Hedin Night Open: Selected Poems, by Rolf Jacobsen / Translated by Olav Grinde North in the World: Selected Poems of Rolf Jacobsen, A Bilingual Edition, by Rolf Jacobsen / Translated by Roger Greenwald The Roads Have Come to an End Now: Selected and Last Poems of Rolf Jacobsen, by Rolf Jacobsen / Translated by Robert Bly The Winged Energy of Delight, Translated by Robert Bly
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

It's past the summer season of apple blossoms and even the autumn of ripe apples (or, for those of you south of the equator, it's much too early), but something about this poem spoke to me today. The blossoms of the apple tree glowing beneath the shining moon. And a reminder to us all that even when things seem difficult, the Earth itself -- and each one of us -- "is a blossom... on the star tree." If we are blossoms, that must mean we are quietly ripening with the season, and in the natural unfolding of things we will become sweet fruit in the cosmos.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
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