The shepherds sing;and shall I silent be?
My God, no hymn for Thee?
My soul's a shepherd too;
a flock it feeds
Of thoughts, and words, and deeds.
The pasture is Thy word:
the streams, Thy grace,
Enriching all the place.
Shepherd and flock shall sing,
and all my powers
Outsing the daylight hours.
Then will we chide the sun for letting night
Take up his place and right:
We sing one common Lord;
wherefore he should
Himself the candle hold.
I will go searching, till I find a sun
Shall stay, till we have done;
A willing shiner, that shall shine as gladly,
As frost-nipped suns look sadly.
Then will we sing, and shine all our own day,
And one another pay:
His beams shall cheer my breast, and both so twine,
Till ev'n His beams sing, and my music shine.
Poem by George Herbert
Art by W A Bouguereau
oil on canvas 165x88cm
Berkshire Museum
See previous entry for commentary on the painting.
Oh yes! Things have most deffinitly progressed! My fiance (the giver of the bouquet) proposed at the beginning of October. We are waiting for his internship to get done before we set a date. :D We are both very happy and excited!!!
ReplyDeleteOutsing the daylight hours...I love that.
ReplyDeleteThis poem has really spoken to me this season. I think I've read it a couple of times of day since I posted it.
ReplyDeleteHope your Christmas letter begins to flow ;-)
That poem is actually rather beautiful. I hope my Christmas is as peaceful as that poem made me feel.
ReplyDeletePS This is actually Nin from PeachyHollow. I changed to a new blog, too many people I actually know were reading the old one and I felt stifled. Here's the new link: www.virginiapeachblog.com :)