Snowdrops

                                   Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside

- Mid-term Break, Seamus Heaney

Contrary to what I had expected February in York is quite mild. On days when the sun is shining it's great to take strolls around the city to view it at its prettiest, and also to see the various flowers emerging after the winter. This blogpost is dedicated to the snowdrop, also poetically named galanthus which translates into milk-flower from Greek. To me there has always been something special about the snowdrop and it is unquestionably one of the most poetic flowers to be found, struggling its way through the cold soil to be kissed by the sun and as such make an excellent emblem of fortitude.

The following pictures are taken in the garden by the Centre for Archaeology and the church of Saint Denis at Walmgate. The latter is particularly fitting due to the epigraph which is taken from Seamus Heaney's poem recollecting the death of Christopher, his four-year-old brother, whose bedside is soothed by candles and snowdrops. Considering graves to be a bed of sorts I find it proper to connect these two elements.


 The Centre for Archaeology, York University

 These are stone caskets from the Medieval period. This area was once the property of Saint Mary's Abbey.

The Church of Saint Denis, Walmgate