Words Carved In Stone
On an adventure in downtown Salt Lake City, I came across, at my feet, these words carved in stone:
Who wrote them, I wondered? Google gave me the answer, my favourite poet Henry W Longfellow:
So I just had to look up the full poem that describes the end of a day in his life. It could describe the feelings of some of us on 13 December 2019! So perhaps for days like that, here is what to do:
The Day Is Done
The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.
I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist:
A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.
Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.
Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.
For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life's endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.
Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;
Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.
Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.
Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.
So why not do it! Give your voice to a poem of your choice. Maybe even, one of your own. To a friend or to your family read some poetic words that stir your heart and mind, the effect may surprise you!
The stone featured above I discovered in the Gilgal Sculpture Garden, the remarkable creation of Thomas Battersby Childs Jnr (1888-1963) Click on his picture and take a look
