triologisms

Spring-time clothes

A thrilling image of glittering northern waters in a moment of calm and gentleness.

'Crossing from Scalpay in...

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triologisms

All-power meeting

I had no idea how awful but interesting this bird is, even its name lacks euphony.  I'm in no hurry...

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metaphors

Puffin as scientist

The way Nicolson describes puffins makes you wonder if their name comes from 'puffed up' or 'puffed out', as there's...

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triologisms

Tide-rippled sea

Nicolson's book is as much about the sea as the land, and the tidal pull it exerted for centuries on...

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triologisms

Thick-pelted richness

Lovely notion, a frog-hopping place, cosy and dense with goodness, not to mention harbouring secrets.  See also this meadow's...

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a quote to note

A sense of happiness in the light of spring

What a beautiful corrective lens for the 'nasty, short and brutish' view of distant human lives. I did not realise...

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triologisms

Tweed-coloured coast

An aptly named colour for a Scottish coast, and why wouldn't the tweed-weavers take their palettes from the landscapes around...

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triologisms

Easy-limbed stirring

I liked this description of a boat responding like a limber-limbed youth to the movement of the sea. 'Easy-limbed stirring'...

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metaphors

Lichen like cracked lacquer

I imagine here the wetted orange lichen that grows flat on rocky surfaces, like tiny star-bursts of gold.

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a quote to note

Plus ça change…

Although this was written in the context of distant history, our TV screens are awash with images of men being...

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a quote to note

The sea wants to be visited

A memorable Gaelic proverb, 'dh'iarr am muir a thadhal', given that the sea is sometimes welcoming and at...

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triologisms

Time-shrinking phrase

A striking triologism for a phrase which arrests and compresses time, as indeed, Heaney's does.  

'... monsters...

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