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A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 


HYMN TO THE NIGHT – 12 October 2007
By Mary T. Hoffman

In an old book of American poetry published in 1922, I found this beautiful poem by the beloved poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

HYMN TO THE NIGHT
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(27 February 1807 – 24 March 1882)

I heard the trailing garments of the Night
Sweep through her marble halls!
I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light
From the celestial walls!

I felt her presence, by its spell of might
Stoop o’er me from above;
The calm, majestic presence of the Night,
As of the one I love.

I heard the sounds of sorrow and delight,
The manifold, soft chimes,
That fill the haunted chambers of the Night,
Like some old poet’s rhymes.

From the cool cisterns of the midnight air
My spirit drank repose;
The fountain of perpetual peace flows there –
From those deep cisterns flows.

O holy Night! from thee I learn to bear
What man has borne before!
Thou layest thy finger on the lips of Care,
And they complain no more.

Peace! Peace! Orestes-like I breathe this prayer!
Descend with broad-winged flight,
The welcome, the thrice-prayed for, the most fair,
The best-beloved Night!

Also visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/heart/blog-20071008.html
http://www.all-creatures.org/poetry.html

Go on to: A PSALM OF LIFE – 13 October 2007
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