Monday 27 May 2013

'Let us wander where we will, something kindred greets us still'

An untitled poem by Robert Louis Stevenson.


Swallows travel to and fro,
And the great winds come and go,
And the steady breezes blow,
Bearing perfume, bearing love.
Breezes hasten, swallows fly,
Towered clouds forever ply,
And at noonday, you and I
See the same sunshine above.

Dew and rain fall everywhere,
Harvests ripen, flowers are fair,
And the whole round earth is bare
To the moonshine and the sun;
And the live air, fanned with wings,
Bright with breeze and sunshine, brings
Into contact distant things,
And makes all the countries one.

Let us wander where we will,
Something kindred greets us still;
Something seen on vale or hill
Falls familiar on the heart;
So, at scent or sound or sight,
Severed souls by day and night
Tremble with the same delight -
Tremble, half the world apart.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This seemed an appropriate posting on which to ask your help.

As I develop a special "lessons and carols" liturgy on the Incarnation, I would like permission to use the "readable" versions of two hymns by William Herebert posted on your blog.

Specifically, I would like to commission musical settings for your modernizations of "Thou Cruel Herod, Thou Mortal Enemy" (9 January 2013) and "The King's Banners Are Now Forward Led" (1 April 2012).

If you would like more information about my project and its needs, my email address is timothy@pilgrimscompanion.net. Thank you.

Clerk of Oxford said...

I've emailed you!