It seems that almost everyone is talking about England this week and not surprisingly, given that news coverage of Saturday's upcoming nuptials of American actor and women's right campaigner Meghan Markle to Britain's Prince Harry has ramped up to fever pitch. It all feels a little "Love Actually" and I hope the media cuts the lovely new incoming royal and her family some slack after the excitement of the wedding. In the spirit of love and spirit and soul and beauty, my ode to England today is to focus on and celebrate the island nation where I was born and raised.
However you feel about monarchy, celebrity, mass media hysteria, the royal family and its refreshing modernization is part and parcel of British heritage and the greatest PR any country could ask for at this time in global goings-on.
And so, to England . . .
“This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea.”
William Shakespeare
“As we drew nearer I saw a cathedral like a crown on the head of a city. In its white walls every window glinted in the sun. Lincoln! Of such places is England made. -"No Moon Tonight”
Don Charlwood
“Crossing the Fens by boat there comes the realization that water not earth or sky is the natural element in this landscape.”
Stephanie Green, Wide Woman on a Narrow Boat
“This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.”
William Shakespeare
“England is never in a hurry because she is eternal.”
Henryk Seinkiewicz
“He had spent much of his childhood perched on the coast, with the taste of salt in the air: this was a place of woodland and river, mysterious and secretive in a different way from St. Mawes, the little town with its long smuggling history, where colorful houses tumbled down to the beach.”
Robert Galbraith
“A thin grey fog hung over the city, and the streets were very cold; for summer was in England.”
Rudyard Kipling
“There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.”
Alfred Wainwright, A Coast to Coast Walk
“He stood staring into the wood for a minute, then said: "What is it about the English countryside — why is the beauty so much more than visual? Why does it touch one so?"
Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle
