Saturday, April 11, 2020

"the darkness of God"

I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you
Which shall be the darkness of God. As, in a theatre,
The lights are extinguished, for the scene to be changed
With a hollow rumble of wings, with a movement of darkness on darkness,
And we know that the hills and the trees, the distant panorama
And the bold imposing facade are all being rolled away -
Or as, when an underground train, in the tube, stops too long between stations
And the conversation rises and slowly fades into silence
And you see behind every face the mental emptiness deepen
Leaving only the growing terror of nothing to think about;
Or when, under ether, the mind is conscious but conscious of nothing -
I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love
For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith
But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:
So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.
Whisper of running streams, and winter lightning.
The wild thyme unseen and the wild strawberry,
The laughter in the garden, echoed ecstasy
Not lost, but requiring, pointing to the agony
Of death and birth.


                              -  T. S. Eliotfrom East Coker

this was also from the daily Liturgical Reflections for Holy Saturday

4 comments:

  1. And I'm finding I should read more Eliot because I keep forgetting that I really like his poetry. "The lights are extinguished, for the scene to be changed" is such a succinct and powerful (and of course poetical) way to put it.
    I actually passed my Czech/Literature Grammar School graduation with passing colours on Eliot (and others, but a good part of what I talked about was Eliot). :-) And I liked Murder in the Cathedral a lot. I definitely should read more Eliot.

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    1. I also really liked Murder in the Cathedral! There isn't time to read everything we feel we should. Well, maybe now is the time. ;-)

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