Unpigeonholed by Norman Gale |
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 | Unpigeonholed |  |
1
[In many houses]
In many houses
It is clear
That Christ is absent all the year.
It is clear
That Christ is absent all the year.
In many others
He abides
All dawns, all noons, all eventides.
He abides
All dawns, all noons, all eventides.
2
[Fair droops this vaporous evenfall.]
Fair droops this vaporous evenfall.The earth-line cuts the sun in two
Again, and only half his ball
Of melted glory tints the view.
The red remainder, it will drop
By frozen law beneath the rim
And turn afresh the pallid crop
Of barley near our common dim.
Then will a planet seem to note
With joy the fluting of your throat
And sparkle compliments for one
Known to my heart as breathing sun;
And I shall stoop to learn how grey
Your eyes become at death of day,
Much of the blueness in their shine
Being gone, with much of brown from mine.
3
[Agreed. There's more to praise than blame]
Agreed. There's more to praise than blameOf what was granted when I came:
But how I wish my suit of skin
Had not been woven quite so thin!
4
[At Christmas, be the air as wild]
At Christmas, be the air as wildAs Fury's heart, and dense with snow
That swirls along in undefiled
Companionship, my Youth will go
To Church with Mother. She is dead;
Yet so alive that I shall feel
Her hand direct me where to tread
Between the pews, and where to kneel.
5
[With utter beauty come]
With utter beauty come,An inch can be the home
Of rapture. Then depart
Wide spaces from the heart.
At rest upon a frond
Of bracken near the pond,
This peacock butterfly
Eclipses all the sky.
6
[Romeo, black of body]
Romeo, black of body,
Famous for a bill
Coloured like a tuneless
Trumpet-daffodil,
Modulates his passion
Trenchantly, aware
How the heart of Juliet
Quivers in the pear.
Famous for a bill
Coloured like a tuneless
Trumpet-daffodil,
Modulates his passion
Trenchantly, aware
How the heart of Juliet
Quivers in the pear.
Listening to his deepest
Alto, and the flight
Taken by his fever
Mounting to a height
Perfectly expressing
Love's superlative,
Here I learn how little
Song is mine to give.
Alto, and the flight
Taken by his fever
Mounting to a height
Perfectly expressing
Love's superlative,
Here I learn how little
Song is mine to give.
7
[Right over the scalp of his pancakey head]
Right over the scalp of his pancakey head
He has varnished himself, and the tint is as red
As the colour a Cardinal wears in excess
Of the homespun of Christ, who was greater with less.
He has varnished himself, and the tint is as red
As the colour a Cardinal wears in excess
Of the homespun of Christ, who was greater with less.
How golden the policy bidding him pass
His career as a dwarf in a tussock of grass,
With no crime to commit! Being Fungus, not Man,
He is sinless from birth to the end of his span.
His career as a dwarf in a tussock of grass,
With no crime to commit! Being Fungus, not Man,
He is sinless from birth to the end of his span.
8
[Wiseacres tell me yonder star]
Wiseacres tell me yonder star,
Beneath the Pole, incredibly afar,
Sent off the telegram of light
Delivered at twelve o'clock, to-night,
Full fifty years before it came in sight.
Beneath the Pole, incredibly afar,
Sent off the telegram of light
Delivered at twelve o'clock, to-night,
Full fifty years before it came in sight.
One hundred billion leagues from here
It rushes onward, a colossal sphere,
To serve the Secret Brain that knows
How far a molten traveller goes
While cooling for the blackbird and the rose.
It rushes onward, a colossal sphere,
To serve the Secret Brain that knows
How far a molten traveller goes
While cooling for the blackbird and the rose.
9
[It is not idle to pursue]
It is not idle to pursueWith weighted thought the sweets of you
Along the years. Pretended heaven,
In spite of wormwood, is a leaven.
10
[I stood in the shadow on forest ground]
I stood in the shadow on forest ground
Where a squirrel, thinking me bole and roots,
Came nearer and nearer, but suddenly found
By nose that a mischief was present in boots.
Where a squirrel, thinking me bole and roots,
Came nearer and nearer, but suddenly found
By nose that a mischief was present in boots.
A gun went off in his startled head
With the bang that is never a bang. How he spat
The fury intended to drop me dead
And whipped up a beech with the vim of a cat!
With the bang that is never a bang. How he spat
The fury intended to drop me dead
And whipped up a beech with the vim of a cat!
11
[Shall we have time for spending]
Shall we have time for spendingCare and love on the mending
Of lives that need befriending?
Three hundred and sixty-five days
Will offer ten thousand ways.
12
[On seeing you carry the damson, I turned]
On seeing you carry the damson, I turned
From the fragrance a volume was giving
While Herrick, the dewy, sang low in my heart,
And flushed a response to the living.
From the fragrance a volume was giving
While Herrick, the dewy, sang low in my heart,
And flushed a response to the living.
How lavish of you, with three minutes to spare
Of the day you embroider, to settle
And lend this sweetwilliam the fairy-like breath
Of a bosom as soft as a petal!
Of the day you embroider, to settle
And lend this sweetwilliam the fairy-like breath
Of a bosom as soft as a petal!
13
['Tis folly to be sour]
'Tis folly to be sourFrom hour to hour.
Stop moping!
Try hoping!
14
[To serve as lantern-bearer, and to toil]
To serve as lantern-bearer, and to toilAcceptably, a priest should be alight
With flame come down from Heaven. Pretended oil
But burns him to a cinder in our sight.
15
[Whence I came I could not see]
Whence I came I could not see,For eyelids failed to lift for me;
Whither I go is but a guess
Alive with throbs of hopefulness.
Thus I dwell between unknowns,
Gathering lilies, breaking stones.
16
[The loops of sunlit butterflies, the farewell sent]
The loops of sunlit butterflies, the farewell sentBy doves desiring slumber, leave me discontent.
Outstretched in meadow grasses, here once more I try
The old ambition—how in prayer to glimpse on high
That fortress poised as though within a granite sky.
Where she for whom I long so vividly is pent,
Sighing to hear me sigh.
17
[None knows the land]
None knows the land
From which you came—
As Beauty planned—
Without a name.
From which you came—
As Beauty planned—
Without a name.
Christened by dew,
Confirmed by heat,
Your pride was blue,
Your breath was sweet.
Confirmed by heat,
Your pride was blue,
Your breath was sweet.
Ere yet the fire
Of Man was lit
In any shire,
To comfort it,
Of Man was lit
In any shire,
To comfort it,
You spent your time
In adding worth,
As Rose and Lime,
To English earth.
In adding worth,
As Rose and Lime,
To English earth.
When Man has gone,
To pay his debt,
Flowers will live on,
Sweet Violet!
To pay his debt,
Flowers will live on,
Sweet Violet!
18
[Few of us can be so rash]
Few of us can be so rashAs not to keep a little cash
For service on a Rainy Day.
Wise it is to put as well
Love in storage. Who can tell
How often Love will want to pay?
19
[Who trains with clever care a pup]
Who trains with clever care a pupTo eye, though not to snap, a crust
Should recollect that he was given
His life “on trust.”
20
[Of all that praised this woman dead]
Of all that praised this woman dead,None praised her more than he who said:
The love she left behind her
Is doubled by remembering hearts
And sent to find her.
21
[Though Time moves on]
Though Time moves onHe leaves behind
Yesterday's soul
For humankind.
22
[Monotonies that never weary us]
Monotonies that never weary usAre consolations. Should a runlet sing
Its verse of ripples twenty thousand times
Within my notice, glad were I to stay
Near marigolds and cresses in the hope
That difference might not mingle with the tune.
Consider wooddoves also. These contain
A brevity of music, yet it drops—
Resembling thus a wayside balm of old—
Upon the edges of a mental wound
Assuring solaces. For other proof,
The kitten purring on the buffet here
At night will never vary from her low
Monotonous same, and yet will never vex
My mind at work on webs of viewless silk,
Although she purr till Doomsday. Rivulet,
Wooddove, puss, three murmurings of delight,
Are voiced so winningly that none can plead
To have their soundings other than they are.
23
[Chiff-chaff, fly to England]
Chiff-chaff, fly to EnglandAnd marry there in May!
Not to have a compass
Is not to lose the way.
24
[This mellowing garden, where at times]
This mellowing garden, where at timesAn Admiral or a Peacock blazes—
To note him is to pulse with rhymes—
On one of many Michaelmas daisies,
So glooms the spread of written sky
Within my book, now superseded,
That Shakespeare's self is told to lie
Face downward on the lawn, unheeded.
25
[Since this is Christmas Day]
Since this is Christmas DayI must not darken it in any way,
Because the King at dead of night
Was born to make a cowshed bright.
Myrrh, frankincense, and gold
I cannot give, as travellers gave of old
Beneath his star; yet Thought can dare
To kiss Him in his cradle there.
26
[If you climb to the top]
If you climb to the topAnd yet feel sadder,
Hurriedly go
To the foot of the ladder
To search for the poor
And make them gladder.
27
[Millions of years before the hour]
Millions of years before the hour
At which men came to toil and pant
Upon this earth, appeared the Flower,
The trial Moth, the tentative Ant.
At which men came to toil and pant
Upon this earth, appeared the Flower,
The trial Moth, the tentative Ant.
Thorned by an Agent never seen,
The Rose moved upward, grace by grace,
Till, venturing out of undergreen,
The Ant stood tickling on her face.
The Rose moved upward, grace by grace,
Till, venturing out of undergreen,
The Ant stood tickling on her face.
Aeons and aeons had woven cloth,
Umber or lilac, blue or chrome;
Measured, without a slip, the Moth,
And dressed him for his moonlit home.
Umber or lilac, blue or chrome;
Measured, without a slip, the Moth,
And dressed him for his moonlit home.
Thus superhuman care was spent
On lives that winged or leapt or ran
Unwitting how their birthdays meant
The very odd conclusion—Man!
On lives that winged or leapt or ran
Unwitting how their birthdays meant
The very odd conclusion—Man!
28
[Day being nearly done]
Day being nearly done,England rolls bedward from the sun.
I shall not feel another shock
Of beauty till tomorrow's clock
Strikes—You!
29
[Liking is not ashamed to fall in debt]
Liking is not ashamed to fall in debt,But steady-hearted Love has never yet
Endured, as tenant in her snow-white breast,
Betrayal of the kiss and oath expressed.
Like can slip on and off, as though a glove,
Without a single blush. How different is Love!
30
[Because of my embrace]
Because of my embrace,
The sunburn on your face
Is not yet silver-white
Beneath the Harvest Moon,
Radiant with rounded light.
The sunburn on your face
Is not yet silver-white
Beneath the Harvest Moon,
Radiant with rounded light.
Turn now and let her note
My lips upon your throat,
That she may find how bare
A harvesting she has,
With none to kiss her there.
My lips upon your throat,
That she may find how bare
A harvesting she has,
With none to kiss her there.
31
[First sweet as plum, then sour as quince]
First sweet as plum, then sour as quinceThat makes the green explorer wince,
This woman's bad to manage, since
Her flavour well might suit
The cleverest judge of fruit
And yet (as though to prove him rash
And dunderheaded in a flash)
Crinkle his palate by a dash
Of concentrated juice
Too choking for his use.
32
[Christian, since you learn to dare]
Christian, since you learn to dareAlmost more than soul can bear;
Starve in hope; refuse to quake
Because of devils; dread to take
Tithe from falseness seeming fair;
Shoulder a cross as if to share
With Christ the thorn, the nail, the spear,
Yours is the badge my coat shall wear.
33
[A little past eleven o'clock]
A little past eleven o'clock
I heard the village voices call
God's Son with melody inside
The church, at Easter-tide.
I heard the village voices call
God's Son with melody inside
The church, at Easter-tide.
My soul was torn between the King
And one that in a wounding grave—
Far, far from resurrection—keeps
Her hands so still in Sleep's.
And one that in a wounding grave—
Far, far from resurrection—keeps
Her hands so still in Sleep's.
34
[Refuse a longer stay]
Refuse a longer stay
In bed on this the loveliest day
Of all the year, when God is left
Alone in Paradise, bereft.
In bed on this the loveliest day
Of all the year, when God is left
Alone in Paradise, bereft.
First smooth that tangled hair,
Then kneel to welcome in a prayer
The Little Pilgrim come to make
Earth half of Heaven for our sake.
Then kneel to welcome in a prayer
The Little Pilgrim come to make
Earth half of Heaven for our sake.
35
[Prodigal birds with a passion for Town]
Prodigal birds with a passion for Town,
Cocking your eyes at those papery bags;
Dead to the records of woodland renown,
Why do you waddle on Westminster flags?
Cocking your eyes at those papery bags;
Dead to the records of woodland renown,
Why do you waddle on Westminster flags?
Ruined, as Romans of old, by the stroke
Appetite aimed, you are casual and flabby.
Small is your worth, having fled from the oak,
Pigeonless pigeons that squat on the Abbey!
Appetite aimed, you are casual and flabby.
Small is your worth, having fled from the oak,
Pigeonless pigeons that squat on the Abbey!
36
[I never turn abruptly to the right]
I never turn abruptly to the rightOr left of any lane without the thought
That I shall see at last the heavenly face
Of Him for whom my graver years have sought.
37
[Sweet Love would be ashamed to come]
Sweet Love would be ashamed to come,As Santa comes, for one night only,
She bothers if a single heart
For lack of her is bruised and lonely.
The Toyman, snug in Bedfordshire
For two-and-fifty weeks, lies under
His crimson quilt; but Love is loved
All round the world as Wakeful Wonder.
38
[Whither he journeys none can ever know.]
Whither he journeys none can ever know.
Is it Terminus Stop? Is it Junction Go?
Is it Terminus Stop? Is it Junction Go?
In comes the train that Love can never meet.
The platform's dead; no porter cries
Along the frozen silence, “Keep your seat!”—
No guard, “Change here for Paradise!”
The platform's dead; no porter cries
Along the frozen silence, “Keep your seat!”—
No guard, “Change here for Paradise!”
39
[We met.]
We met.
What was it ran
Like flashes from a cloud
Between us when for each
A clamouring heart was speech?
What was it ran
Like flashes from a cloud
Between us when for each
A clamouring heart was speech?
'Twas then,
Without a ring,
We married where we stood.
It was not grief to miss
Your handclasp, having this.
Without a ring,
We married where we stood.
It was not grief to miss
Your handclasp, having this.
40
[This green advertisement of health]
This green advertisement of health,
Efficiency, and woodland wealth
Is but a beetle, yet beware
Of treading down his life. Take care!
Efficiency, and woodland wealth
Is but a beetle, yet beware
Of treading down his life. Take care!
A living lesson, he should serve
To teach his betters not to swerve
From natural law, as Man is wont
To do in folly. Beetles don't.
To teach his betters not to swerve
From natural law, as Man is wont
To do in folly. Beetles don't.
41
[Perdita stooped above a rose]
Perdita stooped above a rose
To mingle breath, as if a pair
Of lovers, famished at the close
Of dreary day, were whispering there.
To mingle breath, as if a pair
Of lovers, famished at the close
Of dreary day, were whispering there.
Fortunate flower, to touch the swell
Of throat that I—so long, so long—
Have wearied sullen words to tell
At middle night to stars in song!
Of throat that I—so long, so long—
Have wearied sullen words to tell
At middle night to stars in song!
42
[Bells at half-past kissing-time]
Bells at half-past kissing-time
Echo from the mountain;
Yet must Mary thrice re-fill
Her bucket from the fountain.
Echo from the mountain;
Yet must Mary thrice re-fill
Her bucket from the fountain.
Little help in lettering bark,
Kicking stones, and drumming
Feet on turf when Love's so late
That Love may not be coming!
Kicking stones, and drumming
Feet on turf when Love's so late
That Love may not be coming!
Absence is a fiery sauce,
Flavour grows by missing.
Fast on Thursday, to increase
The tang of Friday's kissing.
Flavour grows by missing.
Fast on Thursday, to increase
The tang of Friday's kissing.
43
[Keenly alert, his brain and soul admired]
Keenly alert, his brain and soul admiredThe intricate webbing of our Master's plan,
Yet dared to wonder how this globe required
So many tart and turbulent sorts of Man.
44
[Contrition is a bloom]
Contrition is a bloomOf everlasting mien.
Run to my desolate room
At this eleventh hour
To offer me afresh
The young familiar flower
That, regularly worn,
Had kept my heart serene
Till time begot a thorn.
45
[Who runs from sin, deploring with the tremulous mind]
Who runs from sin, deploring with the tremulous mindPerverseness when his soul was stricken deaf and blind,
And knocks at Heaven for grace, will surely be allowed
To watch the sevenfold birth of colour on his cloud.
46
[Dead to the pen, alive to print]
Dead to the pen, alive to print,Two Authors soothe my illness.
That book of prose is spiritual lint
For binding me to stillness;
This flowery verse recalls the glint
Of marigolds by neighbouring willows,
And seems to flood with buttercups
My bedspread and my pillows.
47
[They give a rich and ordered home]
They give a rich and ordered home,
With furnishings of gold,
To other housewives, thinking naught
Of poverty and cold.
With furnishings of gold,
To other housewives, thinking naught
Of poverty and cold.
Yet none of them is prodigal,
None lunatic; for these
So ruthless murderers of self
Are patriot honey-bees.
None lunatic; for these
So ruthless murderers of self
Are patriot honey-bees.
48
[How much for you]
How much for you,His Little One,
God's earnest love
To-day has done!
Who cared so well
Throughout the light
Will be as warm
A friend at night.
49
[Your sweet life went]
Your sweet life went,
As though a petal fallen from a rose,
Turning my Easter into Lent.
As though a petal fallen from a rose,
Turning my Easter into Lent.
None other shared
The final leap of blueness in the eyes
Telling a heart how much they cared.
The final leap of blueness in the eyes
Telling a heart how much they cared.
50
[For being allowed the radiant right to come]
For being allowed the radiant right to comeFrom none knows where to Earth and use it as my home,
Marvel and praise. The cost? Who cares to count it twice,
If but a second pause in darkness be the price?
51
[Come brooming, Children! We shall go]
Come brooming, Children! We shall go
Across our common to the show
Of gold that soon, from tangled sod,
Will fashion purses, pod by pod,
Obeying God.
Across our common to the show
Of gold that soon, from tangled sod,
Will fashion purses, pod by pod,
Obeying God.
Broom dressed in glory! While we move
Toward our favourite, let us prove
Ourselves affectionate to weeds,
Their stature, leafage, flowering, seeds,
In lanes and meads.
Toward our favourite, let us prove
Ourselves affectionate to weeds,
Their stature, leafage, flowering, seeds,
In lanes and meads.
Dead Nettles can in grace compare
With any bloom, however fair.
Enchanted, count by twos and threes
The snow-white imitation bees
That cling to these.
With any bloom, however fair.
Enchanted, count by twos and threes
The snow-white imitation bees
That cling to these.
How well they note in turfy schools
The everlasting set of rules
Drawn up for them, and, doing thus,
Without the fault of human fuss,
Admonish us!
The everlasting set of rules
Drawn up for them, and, doing thus,
Without the fault of human fuss,
Admonish us!
52
[Wonder no more that I should breathe an hour]
Wonder no more that I should breathe an hourOf musing thus beside a forest flower.
Surely no loss of time is here. To haste
Beyond her dewy testament were waste.
53
[Some love the skies]
Some love the skiesThe most when darkened eyes
Look inward and peruse
Imagined hues.
54
[While here I sit to love the power]
While here I sit to love the powerOf peace within a tremulous flower,
An Evil roars along the blue,
Learning to mingle blood and dew.
55
[Fear not. The most emphatic sign]
Fear not. The most emphatic signTo speed your heart and mine
On earth, in Heaven shall be allowed
To glorify a cloud.
56
[Twelve words to grave along my stone]
Twelve words to grave along my stoneWhen soul and body part:
His flag was Faith, his Captain, Christ,
His war, the human heart.
57
[Though crag or desert upland, tundra, swamp, or sea]
Though crag or desert upland, tundra, swamp, or seaWere best to hide the servant bones that strained for me
As long as I was thinking dust, two yards of town,
I fear, will open when the signal blinds are down.
| Unpigeonholed | |