We call it dusk or twilight, but recently a student in my class referred to that time as gloaming. Although I have read it in poems and historical prose, and I knew it was an English word, I looked up the definition to see where it came from originally.
Here is the definition.
If "gloaming" makes you think of tartans and bagpipes, well lads and lasses, you've got a good ear and a good eye; we picked up "gloaming" from the Scottish dialects of English back in the Middle Ages.
The roots of the word trace to the Old English word for twilight, "glōm," which is akin to "glōwan," an Old English verb meaning "to glow." In the early 1800s, English speakers looked to Scotland again and borrowed the now-archaic verb gloam, meaning "to become twilight" or "to grow dark."
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| The sun has set and left its glow in the gloaming on the farm in southwest Georgia |
I like the reference to glowing which is what I see at that time of day. Here in the mountains, the sun drops behind the peaks and leaves its glow in the sky and over the earth. Sometimes that glow is breath-taking.
Let's bring back the word gloaming. I like the sound.
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| The glow on the lake at the gloaming |
On the farm in the flat lands of south Georgia, I remember walking west as the sun dropped behind the tall pine horizon. The gloaming was so powerful to me that I did not want to turn back. I walked until darkness fell around me.
What is your favorite time of day? What do you like to do at that time?
