From far,from eve and morning
And yon twelve-winded sky,
The stuff of life to knit me
Blew hither : here am I.

Now - for a breath I tarry
Nor yet disperse apart -
Take my hand quick and tell me,
What have you in your heart.

Speak now, and I will answer;
How shall I help you, say;
Ere to the wind's twelve quarters
I take my endless way.

Goodnight; ensured release,
Imperishable peace,
Have these for yours,
While sea abides, and land,
And earth's foundations stand,
And heaven endures.

When earth's foundations flee,
Nor sky nor land nor sea
At all is found,
Content you, let them burn :
It is not your concern;
Sleep on, sleep sound.

Christmas : 1924

"Peace upon earth !" was said. We sing it,
And pay a million priests to bring it.
After two thousand years of mass
We've got as far as poison-gas.

The Oxen ( Read more... )

Deep peace of the running waves to you

Deep peace of the flowing air to you

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you

Deep peace of the shining stars to you

Deep peace of the son of peace to you

The night is freezing fast,
To-morrow comes December;
And winterfalls of old
Are with me from the past;
And chiefly I remember
How Dick would hate the cold.

Fall,winter,fall; for he,
Prompt hand and headpiece clever,
Has woven a winter robe,
And made of earth and sea
His overcoat for ever,
And wears the turning globe.

In the gloom of whiteness,
In the great silence of snow,
A child was sighing
And bitterly saying : "Oh,
They have killed a white bird up there on her nest,
The down is fluttering from her breast."
And still it fell through that dusky brightness
On the child crying for the bird of the snow.

Woman much missed,how you call to me,call to me ( Read more... )

With rue my heart is laden
For golden friends I had,
For many a rose-lipt maiden
And many a lightfoot lad.

By brooks too broad for leaping
The lightfoot boys are laid;
The rose-lipt girls are sleeping
In fields where roses fade.

I get so depressed when the postie (Scots for postman/mailman) calls.
He only ever brings me bills (which I can't afford to pay) and junk mail.
Now he hasn't called once in the last week !
And I'm so depressed.
Why is no one sending me bills and junk mail ???