The Green Singer Icon

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Green Singer-John Shaw Nelison

All singers have shadows

that follow like fears,

But I know a singer

who never saw tears:

A gay love — a green love —

delightsome! divine!

The Spring is that singer —

an old love of mine!

All players have shadows

and into the play

Old sorrows will saunter —

old sorrows will stay.

But here is a player

whose speech is divine!

The Spring is that player —

an old love of mine!

All singers grow heavy:

the hours as they run

Bite up all the blossoms,

suck up all the sun.

But I know a singer,

delightsome! divine!

The gay love — the green love —

an old love of mine!

The relationship that JSN had with nature has been well documented and I have used his reference to nature as his deity, “whose speech is divine; The Spring is that player”, by representing these visually as a religious icon..

He makes reference to Spring singing and what better chorister is there than the Australian magpie. References to shadows and old sorrows that may be found in the ancient trees, the red gums ,that stand in the country he knew well .

The decorative border of the work illustrates the blossoms that herald the singing of Spring