Walter Crane - part 17

 Walter Crane (15 August 1845 – 14 March 1915) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most influential, and among the most prolific, children's book creators of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of English children's illustrated literature would exhibit in its developmental stages in the later 19th century.

Crane's work featured some of the more colourful and detailed beginnings of the child-in-the-garden motifs that would characterise many nursery rhymes and children's stories for decades to come. He was part of the Arts and Crafts movement and produced an array of paintings, illustrations, children's books, ceramic tiles, wallpapers and other decorative arts. Crane is also remembered for his creation of a number of iconic images associated with the international socialist movement.

For more in-depth biographical notes see part 1, and for earlier works see parts 1 - 16 also.

This is part 17 of a 19-part series on the works of Walter Crane.

1902 Flora's Feast: A Masque of Flowers published by Cassell & Company Limited:

Title Page

The sullen winter nearly spent.
Queen Flora to her garden went,...

And one by one each making bold
Their silken vesture to unfold,...

The snowdrops first upon the scene,
White crested braved King Frost's demesne:

The little crocus reaches up
To catch a sunbeam in his cup.

The daffodil his trumpet blows.
And after Spring a hunting goes.

Anemones rode out the gale,
Frail Wind flowers flutter'd red & pale:

The Violet, and the Primrose dame,
With modest mien but hearts. aflame,

Green kirtled from the brooklet's fold,
The rustic maid Marsh Marigold:

The "Lady smocks all silver white"
The milkmaids of the meadows bright, 

Where shining Buttercups abound
Among the Cowslips on the ground.

Here Lords and Ladies of the wood,
with shaking spear and riding hood:

Black knight at arms, the white plumed Thorn;
In pomp the Crown Imperial borne.

While Tulips lift the banner red,
Or fill their cups with fire instead.

Sweet hyacinths their bells did ring,
To swell the music of the Spring.

With blazoned pennons from each spear,
The Iris and the Flag appear

Sweet masking May, in white or red,
Her snowy cloud of blossom spread.

And Chaucer's Daisy small & sweet
"Si douce est la Margarete."

The little Lilies of the Vale,
White ladies delicate & pale;

Great Peonies in crimson pride,
And budding ones in green that hide:

Fair Columbines that drew the car of Venus
from her distant star:

And Love's own flower the blushing Rose,
The Queen of all the garden close:

And Roses from the hedgerow wild,
Behind their thorns that faintly smiled.

And from the cressy brook's green side,
"Forget-me not", a small voice cried.

Here stately Lilies, pale and proud,
In vesture pure as summer cloud;

Or, burning like an orange flame,
With torches borne aloft the came.

On scarlet Poppy-heads a-blaze:

Ere Evening Primrose lights her lamp,
A beacon to the garden camp:

Fresh Pinks cast incense on the air,
In fluttering garments fringed & rare.

The fond Convolvulus still clings,
The honeysuckle spreads his wings.

The hollyhock his standard high,
Rears proudly to the autumn sky.

The blazing Sunflower, black and bold,
Burns yet to win the sunset's gold,

That, reddening on the Triton's spear,
Foretells the waning of the year.

When lilies, turned to Tigers blaze
Amid the garden's tangled maze.

Where still in triumph, stiff with gold,
The rich Chrysanthemums unfold.

Ere doth the floral pageant close
With one last flower - a Christmas Rose.

1906-07 India impressions, with some notes of Ceylon during a winter tour, 1906-7 published by Methuen & Co.

1906 Dec 14
Arrival of Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji at Bombay

1906 Dec 17
Tomb of Gunj Baksh, Sarkhei

1906 Dec 20
Shrine of the Kwaja, Ajmir

1906 Dec 24
The Maharajah's Palace at Udaipur, from the Jagmandir Pavilion

1907 Jan 4
In the Bazaar, Gwalior

1907 Jan 6
Approach to the Palace on Man Mandir, Gwalior

1907 Jan 12
The Jama Musid Mosque, Delhi

1907 Jan 15
Lahore - The Mosque of Waza Khan

1907 Jan 20
Irrigation Well, Lucknow

1907 Feb 10
Tanjore - The Great Gate of the Temple

1907 Feb 14
Sacred Tank of the Great Temple, Madura

1907 Feb 17
Under the palms at the Galle Face, Ceylon

1907
The Kylas, Caves of Ellora