I was talking about poems with Anji, and how I found my way to some of them, and I wondered if I could find the picture I did to accompany this poem by RS Thomas, which I did as a sort of goodbye to a place and a person.
And I did find it.
And hey, it's an autumn morning and that is reason enough for a spot of hiraeth.
The Bright Field
I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying
on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.
R S Thomas
I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying
on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.
R S Thomas
They fit together well. We used to chase the sun's rays across the fields when I was a child.
ReplyDeleteI've often thought when I die it will be the light that I miss. Early mornings, sun rise and set and an autumn evening when everthing is still...
I hadn't thought about what I'll miss. I hope it isn't too dark, or cold, though.
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