It is beautiful and still;
the air rarified
as the interior of a cathedral
expecting a presence. It is where, also,
the harrier occurs,
materialising from nothing, snow –
soft, but with claws of fire,
quartering the bare earth
for the prey that escapes it;
hovering over the incipent
scream, here a moment, then
not here, like my belief in God.
by R. S. Thomas
from Experimenting with an Amen (1986)
To earthly solace, heart, be not a prey,
To wife and home do not attach yourself,
Take the bread out of your child’s mouth,
And to a stranger give the bread away.
Become the humblest servant to the man
Who was your blackest enemy,
Call by your brother’s name the forest wolf,
And do not ask God for anything.
– by Анна Ахматова (Anna Akhmatova) (1922)
– from Anno Domini MCMXXI translation by D. M. Thomas
