Moonlight, Pillar

The name Pillar is one to excite the imagination, and refers to the narrow column of rock which rests below the summit of this otherwise rugged mountain. It rises steeply from the forested Ennerdale, presenting a formidable face of raw rock. The view here from High Stile on the other side of this tunnel shaped valley is one of the most impressive. Although May, it has snowed at altitude; the top of the mountain is garlanded with the ghostly blue of moonlit snow. Equally spectral clouds drag over the peak. This kind of spectacle is only visible to one who is willing to camp on the mountains and is truly in the realm of what the romantic poets called the “the sublime”. Such experiences were most valued by them and formed the basis of their work. I was reminded of Wordsworth’s poem “A Night Piece”
“…………and above his head he sees
The clear Moon, and the glory of the heavens.
There, in a black-blue vault she sails along”