28 JULY 1990, page 29

Rinsing

In the corded hollows of the wood leaves fall. How light it is. The trees are rinsing themselves of leaves like Degas laundresses, their forearms cold with the jelly-smooth blue......

A Glorious New Experience

Alethea Hayter NEGLECTED GENIUS: THE DIARIES OF BENJAMIN HAYDON edited by John JolWe, Hutchinson, £19.99, pp.250 W hile the whole world seems adverse to desert', Wordsworth......