a poem


A poem to share. A poem fom which Eugene Peterson borrowed a verse to be the title of his 2005 book -Christ plays in ten thousand places.


As Kingfishers Catch Fire

  As king fishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves -- goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying What I do is me: for that I came.

I say more: the just man justices;
Keeps grace: that keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is --
Christ. For Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men's faces.

Gerard Manley Hopkins


Hui.
I really like it.
It's been quite a while since I read a good poem.
And I'd forgotten how much I enjoy them.

I love the rhythm of this one...
Especially the section:
"As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;"

I had to read through the lines several times to get the meaning - but thats the beauty of the poem.
Songs are explicit in what they say,
But poems unravel...
And the unraveling is beautiful.

Thanks!

- James
Hi, James

It was good to meet you  in real person at home focus about life party. As I explained the family reason for my non response to your comments, here is another part of my apology, to share a poem about poetry with you and our friends, brothers and sisters.
After the book is closed
by Gerard Benson
whether it is the words or their meanings
or the sounds they make
or the way  they echo one another
or simply the pictures they paint in the imagination
or the ideas they begin
or their rhythms
whether it is the words or their histories
their curious journeys from one language to the next
or simply the shapes they make in the mouth
tongue and lips moving breath  flowing
whether it is the words or the letters used to spell them
the patterns they make on the page
or simply the way they call  feelings into the open
like a fox seen suddenly  in the field from the hurrying train
whether it is the words or the spaces between white silence among the dark print
I do not  know
but I know this  that a poem
will sing in my mind
long after the book is closed
probably this is not the same layout as the original, I typed out from a tape performed by Lance Pierson.
I like it  mainly because the picture, rhythms and most importantly the theology, we live out the seeds from within, I am His creation. He created us as individuals, relational beings. Me, self, you, she, he, He and it…


A little confession I don’t understand the meaning of each words of  that Hopkins’ poem, would be good to hear some native English speaker explain a bit.

Enjoy it with the after tase of home focus.
 
Hui
I LOVE Gerald Manley Hopkins' poems...

He wrote for reading out loud - when you read them they don't make much sense sometimes but when you read them out loud you catch the meaning of the poem and the inspiration behind it. Love it. See if you can get a recording of one of his poems being read properly - I think Jeremy Begbie played one once at School of Theology...

you've inspired me to go back to my books now!

Ruth
Ruth

Great you love Hopkins' as well!
When did Jeremy Begbie read out his poem? Was that in the year we did SOT? Which one?
I have Hopkins' 'Epithalamion' on tape, that is brilliant too.
Hope to see you around our church this Sunday, we can talk more about Hopkins. I don't know much about English poetry - I am learning.

Hui
Good Morning Hui,
Thank you for your comments on 'Polished by Pain.'
Praying for you. God Bless