Full Moon Rising

Moonrise over the Atlantic. January 2007. (Rebel)
(Click picture for larger view)

The Moon and Sea
Whilst the moon decks herself in Neptune's glass
And ponders over her image in the sea,
Her cloudy locks smoothing from off her face
That she may all as bright as beauty be;
It is my wont to sit upon the shore
And mark with what an even grace she glides
Her two concurrent paths of azure o'er,
One in the heavens, the other in the tides:
Now with a transient veil her face she hides
And ocean blackens with a human frown;
Now her fine screen of vapour she divides
And looks with all her light of beauty down;
Her splendid smile over-silvering the main
Spreads her the glass she looks into again.
~ George Darley (1795 - 1846)

I had never seen a moon rise over the Atlantic Ocean before and this was the January full moon. Sunset and moonrise were in tandem this night, only minutes apart. All the purples, reds and oranges of the sunset reflected off the eastern sky and then as they faded and darkened to sapphire blue and then black, there it was; at first just a red half disc sitting on the ocean's table. Then it floated slowly higher and higher into the sky and the rose tint faded to amber and then white and there he was, the man in the moon. Soon the pale light and water began to dance together; the shimmering sparkle of light and the gentle rolling of the sea. It is a magical time as is sunrise; yet different and most mysterious.

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