A Thinking Soul

I am sitting outside on my porch this morning wearing my crocheted slipper/boots, knit mitts, black jacket, and jeans. It is chilly. It is bliss. My journal, books, and coffee are all I need out here. One book being Girl Meets God, which I was engrossed in reading for hours late last night. An English Literature book on the Romantic Period is the other book. It is a compilation of several writers from the years 1785 to 1830. I am keenly interested in reading William Cowper's work. Right now I am reading The Task, Book IV. Jane Austen liked reading Cowper and since I learned about that fact, I had to see for myself why she was so fond of him. It's very readable, memorable, and beautiful. He personifies non-tangible things and makes interesting comparisons that stir me to read the lines again:

Time, as he passes us, has a dove's wing,
Unsoiled, and swift, and of a silken sound;
But the World's Time is Time in masquerade.
Theirs, should I paint him, has his pinions fledged
With motley plumes, and, where the peacock shows
His azure eyes, is tinctured black and red...
...He charms a world whom Fashion blinds
To his true worth, most pleased when idle most;
Whose only happy are their wasted hours.
-The Task, Book IV

I love to be challenged to think while I read. To be drawn into the nature and humanity and relate to the feelings of the writer. Even as centuries separate us, the tragedies, comedies, episodes, and intricacies of life are of the same mold. Emily Brontë is one of my favorite poets and Cowper is becoming one as well.
On this beautiful fall day with the chilly breeze and tiny birds chirping, the sun slowly warming, I read lines like:

I am conscious and confess,
Fearless, a soul that does not always think.

And yet today, I do think and I am immersed in the deep poetry of the cool, quiet outdoor atmosphere.