W
Wisdom3_1-9
he/him/his
- Jul 19, 2020
- 1,954
I love reading poetry to help get me through some tough times, so I went looking for some poetry threads. I thought about sharing some poetry that spoke to me. I found a few threads with original poems and didn't want to sully them with works that I just appreciate. I did find a posting of "Do Not Go Gently" by Dylan Thomas, which is powerful, but runs counter to how I really feel. Anyway, I thought maybe we could have a thread to share some of our favorite poems that aren't self-composed.
I keep a list of some of my favorite poems and about half of them are related to death! Then again, it's a pretty common theme in Western literary arts. Anyway, here's one that spoke to my loneliness today, written by an anonymous medieval monk.
The Desire for Hermitage
Ah! To be all alone in a little cell
with nobody near me;
beloved that pilgrimage before the last pilgrimage to death.
Singing the passing hours to cloudy Heaven;
Feeding upon dry bread and water from the cold spring.
That will be an end to evil when I am alone
in a lovely little corner among tombs
far from the houses of the great.
Ah! To be all alone in a little cell, to be alone, all alone:
Alone I came into the world
alone I shall go from it.
I keep a list of some of my favorite poems and about half of them are related to death! Then again, it's a pretty common theme in Western literary arts. Anyway, here's one that spoke to my loneliness today, written by an anonymous medieval monk.
The Desire for Hermitage
Ah! To be all alone in a little cell
with nobody near me;
beloved that pilgrimage before the last pilgrimage to death.
Singing the passing hours to cloudy Heaven;
Feeding upon dry bread and water from the cold spring.
That will be an end to evil when I am alone
in a lovely little corner among tombs
far from the houses of the great.
Ah! To be all alone in a little cell, to be alone, all alone:
Alone I came into the world
alone I shall go from it.