by John Freedman
Originally posted elsewhere May 25, 2019
Edited and reposted on Contemplating Crete April 10, 2021
Edward Lear, the famed British artist and children’s poet (A Book of Nonsense; The Owl and the Pussycat), visited Crete in 1864. He was a cantankerous, if not to say downright grumpy, observer of the isle. That only makes his The Cretan Journal (first published in 1984) all the more fascinating. In his notes he wavers back and forth between spilling bile on anything and everyone, and admiring the beauty he encounters. On April 15, 1864, he wrote, “Weather seems improved and the White Mountains partially gleam out, like Olympus at times.” On April 17, he wrote, “Continual ascent, but a more beautiful valley and mountain scene can hardly be.” The photo offered above shows the famed Lefka Ori, or White Mountains, just south of the city of Chania. By pleasant coincidence it was taken on April 10, 2019, almost exactly 157 years after Lear passed through. The image below is Lear's own representation of the White Mountains drawn from the perspective of Plantanias, a location just west of Chania. (It is printed on page 49 of The Cretan Journal, Denise Harvey Publishers, third edition, 2012.) All text and photos © 2019 John Freedman. If you wish to reproduce, repost or use any of the text or any photo, please ask for permission. Copyright renewed © 2021.
Comments