Poetry or Lyrics – Page 5 – The Internet Monk Archives

lent 1 — beyond the wilderness

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ …Jesus, full ofContinue reading “lent 1 — beyond the wilderness”

Winter Spirituality III

Winter Spirituality III Thoughtful for Winter’s future sorrow, Its gloom and scarcity; Prescient to-day, of want to-morrow, Toiled quiet Memory. ‘Tis she that from each transient pleasure Extracts a lasting good; ‘Tis she that finds, in summer, treasure To serve for winter’s food. And when Youth’s summer day is vanished, And Age brings Winter’s stress,Continue reading “Winter Spirituality III”

Winter Spirituality II

Winter Spirituality II • • • The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy (1900) I leant upon a coppice gate, When Frost was spectre-gray, And Winter’s dregs made desolate The weakening eye of day. The tangled bine-stems scored the sky Like strings of broken lyres, And all mankind that haunted nigh Had sought their household fires.Continue reading “Winter Spirituality II”

Poem: At the New Year (Kenneth Patchin)

At the New Year by Kenneth Patchen In the shape of this night, in the still fall of snow, Father In all that is cold and tiny, these little birds and children In everything that moves tonight, the trolleys and the lovers, Father In the great hushContinue reading “Poem: At the New Year (Kenneth Patchin)”

When is the time for love to be born?

The Risk of Birth, Christmas 1973 This is no time for a child to be born, With the earth betrayed by war and hate And a comet slashing the sky to warn That time runs out and the sun burns late. That was no time for a child to be born, In a land in the crushingContinue reading “When is the time for love to be born?”

“Winter: A Dirge,” by Robert Burns

Winter: A Dirge By Robert Burns The wintry west extends his blast, And hail and rain does blaw; Or, the stormy north sends driving forth The blinding sleet and snaw: While tumbling brown, the burn comes down, And roars frae bank to brae; And bird and beast in covert rest, And pass the heartless day.Continue reading ““Winter: A Dirge,” by Robert Burns”

For Election Day 2018

Note from CM: It’s election day here in the U.S., as citizens go to the polls to vote in the midterms — the elections between our quadrennial presidential decision. Here is a simple reminder from over a century ago of the humble grandeur of this privilege we participate in as Americans. • • • IfContinue reading “For Election Day 2018”

Wendell Berry: “The best of human work…”

The best of human work defers always to the in-forming beauty of Nature’s work. But human work, true to the nature of places as it should be, is not natural and is not a mirror held up to nature. At best it is the gift of the Heavenly Muse to the farmer’s art or theContinue reading “Wendell Berry: “The best of human work…””

Christina Rossetti: Good Friday

Good Friday By Christina Rossetti Am I a stone and not a sheep That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy Cross, To number drop by drop Thy Blood’s slow loss, And yet not weep? Not so those women loved Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee; Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly; Not so theContinue reading “Christina Rossetti: Good Friday”

Jan Richardson: Blessing the Seed

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12.24) • From a lectionary reading for Lent 5: John 12.20-33 • • • Reflection for the Fifth Sunday in Lent (March 25) ByContinue reading “Jan Richardson: Blessing the Seed”