59º North August Presence

[Magpie]

Will-o'-the-Wisps
have taken to the skies -
noctilucent zenith

[Leanne]

Lovely imagery, Mark. Noctilucent is a gorgeous word, packing so much information into so few syllables. For some reason I kind of want the will-o-the-wisps to be taking over the skies, but they're probably not...

[Magpie]

Lovely imagery, Mark.  Noctilucent is a gorgeous word, packing so much information into so few syllables.  For some reason I kind of want the will-o-the-wisps to be taking over the skies, but they're probably not...

Thanks Leanne, I know what you mean about them taking over the skies and I haven't really managed to convey the size that the clouds appear and how they can seem to dominate a part of the sky. Zenith is really just straight above the observer and so not descriptive enough. I'm kind of struggling to think of a way of how to describe that space in the sky, I may perhaps use a couple of the constellations as pointers.

Also, I should say, I've changed the title because the previous title '59 Degrees North, August' could easily be mistaken for a boring weather forecast as opposed to a reference to a specific latitude which was the intention.

Thanks for your comments,

Mark

[ellajam]

Lovely imagery, Mark.  Noctilucent is a gorgeous word, packing so much information into so few syllables.  For some reason I kind of want the will-o-the-wisps to be taking over the skies, but they're probably not...

Thanks Leanne, I know what you mean about them taking over the skies and I haven't really managed to convey the size that the clouds appear and how they can seem to dominate a part of the sky. Zenith is really just straight above the observer and so not descriptive enough. I'm kind of struggling to think of a way of how to describe that space in the sky, I may perhaps use a couple of the constellations as pointers.

Also, I should say, I've changed the title because the previous title '59 Degrees North, August' could easily be mistaken for a boring weather forecast as opposed to a reference to a specific latitude which was the intention.

Thanks for your comments,

Mark

Although noctilucent is so lovely it makes a great title the change makes its use in the poem superfluous. For me the original title did a good job of pinpointing a particular time and location.

I have to say I took the poem as a meteor shower, maybe because it was a meteor night here. I didn't get the clouds at all, I didn't google because noctilucent made sense in my impression, I think the nocti read night to me when clouds aren't as visible, I never got there.

[John]

What about noctilucent crown? (Crown only one syllable.) Imagery of wonder/dome/covering/summit/high point/majesty/brilliance/sparkling jewels.

And knowledge of a crown goes straight to the imagination, rather than have the reader wonder what zenith means.

[Magpie]

Although noctilucent is so lovely it makes a great title the change makes its use in the poem superfluous. For me the original title did a good job of pinpointing a particular time and location.

I have to say I took the poem as a meteor shower, maybe because it was a meteor night here. I didn't get the clouds at all, I didn't google because noctilucent made sense in my impression, I think the nocti read night to me when clouds aren't as visible, I never got there.

Hi Marcella,

The 'noctilucent' title was just a temporary fix till I thought of another one, ironically because I decided that the original title was the reason quiet existence, the same title that you said worked for you. So I think I'll be reverting back to that because I quite liked it also and it was a reference to the fact that you need to be between 50 and 65 degrees north to be able to see the clouds. For some reason I thought that the fahrenheit population might see it as a temperature.

I'm fine with connecting it to the Perseids meteor shower which although is unintentional from me I can still see how it works. I thought that 'Will-o'-the-Wisps' would be more of a sticking point for people because I thought it was more part of European and especially Celtic folklore. But I've just now noticed that they appear in American culture as "spook-lights" or "ghost-lights". For me as well as them being interesting folklore it was first and foremost an excellent childrens programme when I was younger called Willo The Wisp.

Thanks for taking the comment and bringing back the original title, it is much appreciated.
And just in case you still haven't looked up 'noctilucent' (night shining) clouds, they are just as beautiful as the word suggests...

[ellajam]

I googled when you guys started talking about clouds. The Sound Of Music, Maria has the lyric
How do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find the word that means Maria?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!

From childhood, imbedded in the memory.

I thought it was interesting that you applied it to meteors, I could see it.

[Magpie]

What about noctilucent crown? (Crown only one syllable.) Imagery of wonder/dome/covering/summit/high point/majesty/brilliance/sparkling jewels.

And knowledge of a crown goes straight to the imagination, rather than have the reader wonder what zenith means.

Hi John, I love your suggestion and the reasons why it would make sense and the subsequent implications, but I think that I complicated matters a bit by saying 'zenith' at all when 'noctilucent clouds' very rarely, if at all appear at the zenith, ie the point of space directly above the observer. I think I must have a weakness for the word 'zenith' because I have used it before and always thought it to be quite poetic whereas it's probably more astronomically convenient than poetic. The poetic option would definitely be your suggestion for crown, I think I'll definitely be storing that concept ready for a later date.

On a sidetrack point (something I seem to be doing a lot of recently for some reason)... the past few weeks I've been aware of and connecting so many words to Magus and so many connected forms like magic, magi (3 wise men), magistrate, majesty, magisterial and on and on through magnetic and more, and just when I read your post now I thought I'd found another diverse version of it in 'imagination' which would seem to make so much sense that it couldn't be anything else... I mean 'I' and 'Magi', but alas no, etymology has let me down again and much like the zenith is way over my head.

Anyway cheers for reading and the excellent suggestion,
I'm going back into therapy to enable me to write shorter comments.

Cheers,

Mark