The Shade of Separation (Irises)

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Iris: Albrecht Dürer, c. 1503, brush, pen, ink, watercolour and body colour, height: 77 cm (Kunsthalle, Bremen)

Wan dolls' false indigo, thrown against the cold,
Comes out water colour, faded blue as souls
Laundered and fluttering on a breezy line,
Too late to freeze, too early to dry out
A sky drained of brilliance, stuffed with wet grey-white.
Awaited, spring refuses to be pushed.
Something in its latecoming promises a crush
Of sighs to follow like the mourning iris --
Its petals tissue-thin, folded on themselves,
A skin as delicate as mist or tears
Limp in morning drizzle, soft as daylong fog
That shrouds the dull head in cotton wool.

Crested Iris (Iris cristata): Sydenham Edwards in The Botanical Magazine, ed. William Curtis, Vol. 12, 1798



Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica): Sydenham Edwards in The Botanical Magazine, ed. William Curtis, Vol. 2, 1788



Particolored Iris (Iris versicolor): Sydenham Edwards in The Botanical Magazine, ed. William Curtis, Vol. 1, 1787



Dwarf Iris (Iris pumila): Sydenham Edwards in The Botanical Magazine, ed. William Curtis, Vol. 1, 1787
 


Elder-scented Iris (Iris sambucina): Sydenham Edwards in The Botanical Magazine, ed. William Curtis, Vol. 6, 1792



Dingy Flag (Iris lurida): Sydenham Edwards in The Botanical Magazine, ed. John Sims, Vol. 18, 1803



Dingy-coloured Flag (Iris lurida): Sydenham Edwards in The Botanical Magazine, ed. John Sims, Vol. 25, 1807



Dull-coloured Flag (Iris tristis): Sydenham Edwards in The Botanical Magazine, ed. John Sims, Vol. 16, 1802

Spurious Iris (Iris spuria): Sydenham Edwards in The Botanical Magazine, ed. William Curtis, Vol. 2, 1788



Chinese Iris (Iris chinensis): Sydenham Edwards in The Botanical Magazine, ed. William Curtis, Vol. 11, 1797



Variegated Iris (Iris variegata): Sydenham Edwards in The Botanical Magazine, ed. William Curtis, Vol. 1, 1787

Persian Iris (Iris persica): Sydenham Edwards in The Botanical Magazine, ed. William Curtis, Vol. 1, 1787

Protestant cemetery in Rome: John Keats' grave: photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, 2008