The joy of a quiet weekend and the promise of a sunny day lured my wife, son and I to Bexhill on Saturday. Bexhill is about an hour’s drive from home and one of our favourite seaside places to potter around. Whilst we are not beach people at the best of times (and certainly not in November), I find being near the sea is good for my soul whether it is a calm day or a blustery day. There’s something about the sea that makes me feel small, and that reminds me that in the grand scheme the concerns and worries that seem so large are actually but a small wave.
Sadly the sun never really made appearance. It did try hard but every time you thought it had made it, the clouds quickly huddled together to block its progress. Whilst this was disappointing on one level, it did create some fascinating light effects.
Finally just as we were going, we were treated to a lovely sunset on the horizon.
I have been exploring the catalogue of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams recently and so it seems appropriate to share this wonderful performance of his first Symphony, ‘A Sea Symphony.’ The symphony sets to music poems by Walt Whitman in which the sea becomes a kind of symbol for the infinite.
Behold, the sea itself,
Walt Whitman
And on its limitless, heaving breast, the ships;
See, where their white sails, bellying in the wind, speckle the green and blue,
See, the steamers coming and going, steaming in or out of port,
See, dusky and undulating, the long pennants of smoke.
Behold, the sea itself,
And on its limitless, heaving breast, the ships.
The Empty Bench 