Studio: international art (70.1917)

The Thames from my Tower Windows


"WINDY WEATHER”

BY EMILE CLAUS

my illustrious compatriots and dear friends—
now, alas, no more—-that beautiful colourist
Camille Lemonnier and that superb poet Emile
Verhaeren.

The day is fresh and clear, it is the herald of
spring, summer skies will follow with their big
fleecy or golden clouds sailing like massive ships
through the air. What immense brilliance this
sparkling midday sun sheds on the river, in
which steamers and barges are swallowed up
in a golden mist ! A soft wind comes and
sweeps away the haze ; the light is joyous and
springlike, bringing gladness to the heart of
man and warmth to the bosom of the earth.
The opposite shore, with its towers and monu-

ments, is steeped in an atmosphere of seductive
and delicious restfulness ; everything seems to
foreshadow a time of future happiness, when
the present terrific cataclysm having come to
an end, the world once more will be living in
peace.

The rays of the sun plunge into the river, and
far away to the south of this glorious highway
my thoughts go out to that cherished land,
my country—Belgium—ruined, oppressed, and
martyred. My eyes become dimmed . . . ;
but I hear the chant of approaching Victory,
heralding a speedy return to the sunlit banks of
the beautiful Lys and to my well-beloved
Flanders.

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