"Restless it roules and unsecure..."

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Dew drops are seen on a leaf in Mihalygerge, Hungary: photo by Peter Komka/EPA, 26 April 2016



Dew drops are seen on a leaf in Mihalygerge, Hungary: photo by Peter Komka/EPA, 26 April 2016

 
Andrew Marvell: On a Drop of Dew

See how the Orient Dew,

Shed from the Bosom of the Morn   

   Into the blowing Roses,

Yet careless of its Mansion new;

For the clear Region where ’twas born   

   Round in its self incloses:

   And in its little Globes Extent,

Frames as it can its native Element.

   How it the purple flow’r does slight,   

      Scarce touching where it lies,

   But gazing back upon the Skies,   

      Shines with a mournful Light;

         Like its own Tear,

Because so long divided from the Sphear.

   Restless it roules and unsecure,

      Trembling lest it grow impure:

   Till the warm Sun pitty it's pain,   

And to the Skies exhale it back again.

      So the Soul, that Drop, that Ray   

Of the clear Fountain of Eternal Day,   

Could it within the humane flow’r be seen,

      Remembring still its former height,

      Shuns the sweat leaves and blossoms green;

      And, recollecting its own Light,

Does, in its pure and circling thoughts, express

The greater Heaven in an Heaven less.   

      In how coy a Figure wound,   

      Every way it turns away:   

      So the World excluding round,   

      Yet receiving in the Day,

      Dark beneath, but bright above:

      Here disdaining, there in Love.

   How loose and easie hence to go:

   How girt and ready to ascend.

   Moving but on a point below,

   It all about does upwards bend.

Such did the Manna’s sacred Dew destil;  

White, and intire, though congeal'd and chill.  

Congeal'd on Earth: but does, dissolving, run   

Into the Glories of th’ Almighty Sun.

Andrew Marvell (1621-1678): On a Drop of Dew, from Poems, 1681

A boy stands inside a building used as sleeping quarters at camp for refugees and migrants in Schisto, near Athens, Greece: photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters, 26 April 2016



A boy stands inside a building used as sleeping quarters at camp for refugees and migrants in Schisto, near Athens, Greece: photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters, 26 April 2016
 

Water is sprayed on a tiger to keep it cool by at the Nehru Zoological park in Hyderabad, India.: photo by Mahesh Kumar A./AP, 26 April 2016

 

Water is sprayed on a tiger to keep it cool by at the Nehru Zoological park in Hyderabad, India.: photo by Mahesh Kumar A./AP, 26 April 2016

Syrians help a wounded youth following an air strike on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhal/AFP, 26 April 2016

#Syria #Aleppo Following an air strike today #AFP photo by Ameer Alhalbi: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 26 April 2016

Syrians help a wounded youth following an air raid on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of Aleppo: photo by Ameer AlHalbi / AFP, 26 March 2016

Rough sea at Seaham Harbour in County Durham, as snow and high winds sweep across the North East of England: photo by Owen Humphreys/PA, 26 April 2016



Rough sea at Seaham Harbour in County Durham, as snow and high winds sweep across the North East of England: photo by Owen Humphreys/PA, 26 April 2016



The heroes of #SyriaCivilDef struggle to rescue civilians targeted by #Assad forces airstrikes in #Aleppo #SyriaTalks #COH #Syria: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 23 April 2016

Syrian civil defence carry a wounded woman following an airstrike on the opposition-held eastern Bab al-Nayrab neighbourhood of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 26 April 2016 

Many killed in Aleppo as fierce fighting shatters Syria's fragile truce: Opposition-held area of city at risk of siege as violence erupts days after halt in peace talks and deployment of Russian artillery: Kareem Shaheen and Daniel Boffey in Gaziantep for The Guardian, 26 April 2016

Large-scale fighting has erupted in the Syrian city of Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, upending a fragile truce that was meant to pave the way for peace talks and threatening a siege of the opposition-held part of the city and a humanitarian catastrophe.

Air raids and rocket attacks by Syrian government forces near Aleppo kill 5 rescue workers: image via AJE News @AJENews, 26 April 2016

Government warplanes on Tuesday killed five civil defence workers in airstrikes on the emergency teams’ facilities, highlighting the growing ferocity of the conflict after the halt of the UN-mediated negotiations.

Dozens killed in #Assad Regime's Bombings in #Aleppo #Syria #Geneva #SyriaTalks #COH #SyriaTalks #COH: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 23 April 2016

“The shells are everywhere, there are dead people on the ground, and they’re washing the blood from the streets,” said one resident in the government-controlled part of Aleppo.

Devastation after government bombardment in Aleppo: image via Fouadhalak89, 23 April 2016

The latest fighting comes days after a halt in peace talks in Geneva that were brokered by Washington and Moscow, and the deployment of Russian artillery last week in support of an offensive that Syrian government officials have long pledged to pursue.

[A Syria Civil Defence rescue in Aleppo] @majdkhalifa19931 @RaedAlSaleh3 @Syria CIvilDef #syria #Aleppo #hero: image via Rady Saad @EadySaad3, 23 April 2016

Forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad are buoyed by recent battlefield advances, largely the result of massive Russian aerial bombardment of rebels fighting to overthrow the Syrian dictator. But progress in recent weeks has been slow with the partial withdrawal of Russian forces ordered by the Kremlin.

A picture of Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad is seen inside a checkpoint at the site of a car bomb on the outskirts of the Sayeda Zeinab district south of Damascus, Syria.: photo by Omar Sanadiki / Reuters, 25 April 2016

Government forces hope to encircle east Aleppo, which is held by the opposition, and are also fighting in the countryside to cut supply lines in the north from Turkey.

Over a dozen civilians killed in Assad airstrikes targeting many areas in #Aleppo, #Syria again today: image via Sami @Paradoxy13, 23 April 2016

Activists in the city said at least 12 people had died on Tuesday in rebel-held areas, the continuation of an aerial campaign that began on Friday and has killed more than 20.

Over a dozen civilians killed in Assad airstrikes targeting many areas in #Aleppo, #Syria again today: image via Sami @Paradoxy13, 23 April 2016

Sixteen people died in retaliatory shelling by the rebels on government-controlled territory and more than 80 were injured, state media said, blaming the attacks on Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaida’s wing in Syria. 

42 Civilians Killed by #Assad's Forces on Sunday #Geneva #COH #Syria #Aleppo #SyriaTalks: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 26 April 2016

Brita Haji Hasan, the head of Aleppo city’s opposition council, said 25 people a day have been massacred in the city since the Assad regime and their Russian allies broke the ceasefire just under a week ago. He told the Guardian the city had endured five to six days of bombing and machine-gun strafing. 

Meslet Calls on Putin to Force #Assad Stop Violations of #UNSC Res. #Syria #SyriaTalks: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 26 April 2016

Seven people were killed when a barrel bomb landed in the popular Alsakhour market on Sunday. Thirty people, including women and children, were killed that day in what appeared to be an intensification of the barrage, Hasan said.

Over a dozen civilians killed in Assad airstrikes targeting many areas in #Aleppo, #Syria again today: image via Sami @Paradoxy13, 23 April 2016

He added that the city was under partial siege with the only road out of Aleppo under constant attack.

“The situation is very bad but we are trying to live on,” Hasan said. “If we are besieged it will be a complete disaster.”

At least 35 people including children and rescue workers killed in Aleppo and its outskirts: image via AJE News @AJENews, 26 April 2016

The attacks led civil defence volunteers in opposition-run Aleppo to ask citizens to avoid gathering in crowds and stay away from schools, markets and public squares to avoid airstrikes. Schools in Aleppo were closed.

Devastation after government bombardment in Aleppo: image via Fouadhalak89, 23 April 2016

The civil defence itself was targeted by two airstrikes and a missile launch on Tuesday in Atareb, a town west of Aleppo, killing five emergency responders.

#Targeted #Russia-n Airstrikes Kill 5 Rescue Workers in Al-Atareb in Rural @Aleppo #Syria: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 26 April 2016

“In all other countries around the world, search and rescue teams are immune from bombing under the Geneva conventions, yet this is not the case in Syria,” said Raed Fares, the head of the White Helmets, the name of the civil defence organisation operating in opposition-held areas in Syria. “In Syria, our volunteers are forced to pick up the body parts of their teammates.”

@SyriaCivilDef heroes, who made sacrifices to save #Syrian innocent lives, were killed after an airstrike #Syria: image via Muslim Brotherhood Sy @IkhwanSyriaEn, 26 April 2016 

Humanitarian officials fear the latest Aleppo campaign could lead to a full-blown siege of its eastern neighbourhoods, which already lack fuel, water and electricity, and cause a major humanitarian disaster in a city that is already in ruins after four years of fierce combat.

#Syria-n Coalition Defends #HNC’s Decision to Suspend #Geneva Negotiations #SyriaTalks #COH: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 26 April 2016

“In the east people are living in the rubble, burning trash to get a bit of heat or make morning tea. I don’t know how they can cope if the fighting really hits Aleppo harder,” said Pawel Krzysiek, the International Committee of the Red Cross’s spokesman in Syria.

 

#Aleppo violence kills 30 people in past 24 hours: image via Al Arabiya English @AlArabiyaEng, 26 May 2016

“Unimpeded and regular access is what we expected from the truce and that didn’t happen. We will not help people if we go only once there. This is not a solution.”

 A story of the children of #Daraya #Break_Daraya_Siege #Daraya #Syria: image via Daraya Council, 24 April 2016

Humanitarian officials say the regular aid deliveries promised in the ceasefire deal have not materialised, with one-off missions into besieged territory occasionally going through. 

#Assad's Forces Target Aid Convoy near #Al-Rastan #Syria #SyriaCeasefire #coh #homs: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 26 April 2016

The UN estimates that hundreds of thousands of people are living under siege in Syria, mostly enforced by the Assad regime and its allies, while other organisations believe the number is over a million.

 #Assad's forces commit a massacre in #Douma #Damascus leaving 10 dead and more than 20 wounded #SyriaTalks #COH#Syria: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 23 April 2016

A Kurdish gunman looks at Shiite militiamen positions during clashes in Tuz Khurmato, Iraq.: photo by Goran Tomasevic / Reuters, 25 April 2016

13 years on: Iraqis reflect on how the US invasion has changed their lives forever: image via Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish 26 April 2016

EU Center for Kurdish Studies: #PYD Human Rights Violations in #Syria Reach ‘New Heights': image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 26 April 2016

Moria, Lesbos. #refugees: image via Santi Palacios, 15 April 2016

@Afghan labourer Sakhidad 24, works in a chalk factory in #Mazar-i-Sharif. Amazing image by @Farshadusyan: image via shahmarai @shahmarai, 26 April 2016

#greece Refugees and #migrants queue for food in @Idomeni @AFP Photo by Joe Klamar: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 26 April 2016