Charles Burchfield, Journals, March 21-23, 1917

March 21, 1917 –

Rainy sky; wet earth blue film vibrating over greening turf – roofs reflect sky; raindrops on twigs – houses vibrate with strange blue films – Robins + Songsparrow          

A dk evil noon – but there seems to be a white horizon to the south –

Roosters cawing; old tomatoe cans - ; soft vertical rain – trees are bklish, with only roots which seem to crawl – roofs high-light; -

P.M – Sunshine is immenent + immense valleys come to mind – with pale sunshine on the tops of hills + on limbs of trees close at hand-           

A romantic stagnant sunset – pasty yellow rim clouds – sun a red ball behind a black poplar – heavy rain mists

Afterglow mists increase – roofs dissolve – raindrops on trees –

March 22, 1917 –           

Heavy frost – sun a frothy white first – heavy mists, with big sun-spokes; ground, green, + violet, white + blue white raindrops; trees raindrops; Powerful puffing of train seems close at head –  distance rumbling of trains, robins, bluebird songsparrows meadowlarks  sings; westward yellow objects glitter against the sky – (up from the frosty meadow hill comes the whistle of the meadowlark) – The earth seems to be rising upwards

A warm hazy noon – dead grass glitters in hot sunlight – flies hum   heat haze from ground -  a few pasty white clouds –

Along the rail road it seems like summer – strange sunlit rusty things –

Mar 23, 1917

Cool SW wind – rift clouds – Objects are again elusive – a tree trunk even close at hand seems only half-revealed –

Heavy dashing rain at noon directly from South – brilliant white light from west –

A small sapling glittering with wet, -

Trees have only glittering roots+ damp trunks –

Running gutters –

Swift moving layer clouds at dusk – maple trees in bloom; a drenching rain – high wind – layer at night heavy rain, looming wind – the sky let loose – it is the equinox –

Charles E. Burchfield