'My sun one early morn did shine'
Country Life UK|August 02, 2023
Whether a fiery blaze or a gentle blush, sunrise brings life, hope and a time to be at one with Nature. Six early risers tell Ben Lerwill what dawn means to them
Ben Lerwill
'My sun one early morn did shine'

DAWN will arrive tomorrow, stealing the dark, dissolving the night, setting the morning in motion. Some sunrises ride in on a blaze of fire. Others loom softly out of the gloom, teasing shapes into the contours of the land. Others are soggy or snowclad. But, from Teignmouth to Timbuktu, all dawns bring life and fresh light and a sense of renewal.

This is why, for so many of us, daybreak takes on so much meaning. ‘There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope,’ wrote the late moral philosopher Sir Bernard Williams. Samuel Taylor Coleridge praised ‘the golden exhalations of the dawn’, A. E. Housman believed ‘the hope of man… flowers among the morning dews’ and Virginia Woolf felt that ‘the words we seek hang close to the tree—we come at dawn and find them sweet beneath the leaf’. This uplifting symbolism is near-universal. A brand new morning is a time of promise and optimism.

It’s also a moment each of us experience on our own terms, on a dog walk, through a kettle-fogged kitchen window or with a bleary-eyed stumble to the bus stop. Early risers, joggers, wildlife-watchers, commuters, clubbers, holidaymakers, new parents and night-shift workers: we all have our own relationship with the dawning of the day and, although sunrise might have a habit of coming too soon for the sleep-deprived, there’s no doubt it heralds something profound.

Esta historia es de la edición August 02, 2023 de Country Life UK.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición August 02, 2023 de Country Life UK.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE COUNTRY LIFE UKVer todo
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
Country Life UK

Kitchen garden cook - Apples

'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'

time-read
2 minutos  |
October 23, 2024
The original Mr Rochester
Country Life UK

The original Mr Rochester

Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre

time-read
5 minutos  |
October 23, 2024
Get it write
Country Life UK

Get it write

Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution

time-read
6 minutos  |
October 23, 2024
'Sloes hath ben my food'
Country Life UK

'Sloes hath ben my food'

A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright

time-read
3 minutos  |
October 23, 2024
Souvenirs of greatness
Country Life UK

Souvenirs of greatness

FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.

time-read
3 minutos  |
October 23, 2024
Plants for plants' sake
Country Life UK

Plants for plants' sake

The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson

time-read
7 minutos  |
October 23, 2024
Capturing the castle
Country Life UK

Capturing the castle

Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker

time-read
6 minutos  |
October 23, 2024
Nature's own cathedral
Country Life UK

Nature's own cathedral

Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods

time-read
5 minutos  |
October 23, 2024
All that money could buy
Country Life UK

All that money could buy

A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages

time-read
8 minutos  |
October 23, 2024
In with the old
Country Life UK

In with the old

Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery

time-read
5 minutos  |
October 23, 2024