at first as you know, the sky is incidental-
a drape, a backdrop for trees and steeples.
here an oak clutches a rock(already he work outdoors),
a wall buckles but does not break,
water pearls through a lock, a haywin tremble.

the pleasures of landscape are endless. what we see
around as should be enough.
horizon are typically high and far away.

still,clouds let us drift and remember.he is, after all,
a miller's son, used to trying
to read the future in the sky, seeing instead
ship,horses,instruments of flight.
is that his mother's wash flapping on the line?
his school book,smudged,illegible?

in this period the sky becomes significant.
cloud forms are technically correct-mares' tails,
sheep-in-themeadow,thunderheads.
you can almost tell which scenes have been interrupted
by summer showers.

now his young wife dies.
his landscape achieve belated success.