The frenzy is over and now
The English religion proceeds
Quiet and un-miraculous,
Without embarrassments.
We think of being kind and
‘Do as you would be done by’ Restraint and the pastoral sense.
But as you gaze into this green,
Look up at the limestone cliff,
Hear English sparrows chirping u n-meta physical;
And feel for the ghosts within the landscape;
St Peter impetuous in late June;
The Magdalene weeping and the alabaster box;
Three men in white raiment;
His mother going up after him;
Luke the good doctor and a shipwreck east of Troas
And Michael’s war in heaven,
With silence for the space of half an hour.
For all the saints,
And the souls he came to save:
But then the late November afternoon:
‘O come, O come Emmanuel!’
Peter Mullen