Friday, August 17, 2012
The Lantern Out of Doors
Sometimes a lantern moves along the night
That interests our eyes And who goes there?
I think; where from and bound, I wonder, where,
With, all down darkness wide, his wading light?
Men go by me whom either beauty bright
In mould or mind or what not else makes rare:
They rain against our much-thick and marsh air
Rich beams, till death or distance buys them quite.
Death or distance soon consumes them: wind
What most I may eye after, be in at the end
I cannot, and out of sight is out of mind.
Christ minds: Christ’s interest, what to avow or amend
there, eyes them, heart wants, care haunts, foot follows kind,
Their ransom, their rescue, and first, fast, last friend.
-Gerard Manley Hopkins
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4 comments:
i've never read that poem. GMH always blows me away.
I love it, too. I've never been one to believe in tattoos, but if I ever were to, I think the last stanza of that poem might be a good candidate.
I remember my grandma Shirley showing me a portrait of her dad's best friend, a handsome blonde who died in France in WWI. Grandma Shirley died in 2005.
Some years later I was telling my uncle Alan about that man, forgotten by everyone, except maybe me. And Uncle Alan reminded me, he's not forgotten.
"Christ minds."
You're the best, Ali.
Oh, Han. I'm glad you posted this story. I like to think about it in terms of those no longer living, too. Christ minds.
Hope you're well. Would love to see you and Tom sometime soon. xo
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