Yvor Winters - To the Holy Spirit

Yvor Winters - To the Holy Spirit

Immeasurable haze: br The desert valley spreads br Up golden river-beds br As if in other days. br Trees rise and thin away, br And past the trees, the hills, br Pure line and shade of dust, br Bear witness to our wills: br We see them, for we must; br Calm in deceit, they stay. br br High noon returns the mind br Upon its local fact: br Dry grass and sand; we find br No vision to distract. br Low in the summer heat, br Naming old graves, are stones br Pushed here and there, the seat br Of nothing, and the bones br Beneath are similar: br Relics of lonely men, br Brutal and aimless, then, br As now, irregular. br br These are thy fallen sons, br Thou whom I try to reach. br Thou whom the quick eye shuns, br Thou dost elude my speech. br But when I go from sense br And trace thee down in thought, br I meet thee, then, intense br And know thee as I ought. br But thou art mind alone, br And I, alas, am bound br Pure mind to flesh and bone br And flesh and bone to ground. br br These had no thought: at most br Dark faith and blinding earth. br Where is the trammeled ghost? br Was there another birth? br Only one certainty br Beside thine unfleshed eye, br Beside the spectral tree, br Can I discern: these die. br All of this stir of age, br Though it elude my sense br Into what heritage br I know not, seems to fall br Quiet beyond recall, br Into irrelevance.


User: PoemHunter.com

Views: 29

Uploaded: 2014-11-07

Duration: 02:05

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