The Infinite Gift
Poetry #03
It is finished Sunset a givenness Like the day before Solemnity Tomorrow begins in yesterday As will the next Impressed in the night with clarity With sorrow Do not grow afraid Of the dryness of night Can you not see His hand In all of this On the green sea In the morning in the backyard Like crystal Windows into Infinity Are you not moved by the idea Infinity Something beyond That which is greater than A mathematical binding The prison isle built by the old gods The ones we served in fear Do not grow tired of the dew The morning mist Lifting up like homeward souls
Thomas Girtin, Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland (1796-97)