Starlight Night

The Starlight Night By G. M. Hopkins

Look at the stars! look, look up at the skies! O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air! The bright boroughs, the circle-citadels there! Down in dim woods the diamond delves! the elves’-eyes! The grey lawns cold where gold, where quickgold lies! Wind-beat whitebeam! airy abeles set on a flare! Flake-doves sent floating forth at a farmyard scare! — Ah well! it is all a purchase, all is a prize.Buy then! bid then! — What? — Prayer, patience, alms, vows. Look, look: a May-mess, like on orchard boughs! Look! March-bloom, like on mealed-with-yellow sallows! These are indeed the barn; withindoors house The shocks. This piece-bright paling shuts the spouse Christ home, Christ and his mother and all his hallows.

Lately I have been up late, late at night. And so have had some chance to look at tha sky. Orion has always been a good friend of mine, and the big dipper has been hanging around right over head recently.

Sadly, there are no delves in the suburbia where I am currently exiled. And city lights do their best to dim the stars. But even so, the instress and inscape of a night-time adventure are always there.

Although I might have to make do with the scaredy-cat squirrels instead of elves, and the motion-sensored sprinklers that try to discourage my late-night presence instead of magical realms of dells and dales, the love of the Night that Hopkins communicates still resonates with me.

This mainly an I-ought-to-be-reading-more-Hopkins post. And a lament that my Hopkins book has disappeared. And a celebration of a lovely poem.

And elves. Elves are always an excuse for anything.

And some encouragement to enjoy the  beautiful nights.

Good night!

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