English Wordplay ~ Listen and Enjoy
Hopkins loved Our Lady. I therefore dedicate these pages to her namesake, my beloved daughter, Mary.
GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
His Life through his Poetry
Previous Track: The Dark Night of the Soul 1
TRACK 18: The Dark Night of the Soul 2
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Justus quidem tu es, Domine, si disputem tecum: verum - tamen justa loquar ad te: Quare via impiorum prosperatur?
THOU art indeed just, Lord, if I contend With thee; but, sir, so what I plead is just. Why do sinners' ways prosper? and why must Disappointment all I endeavour end? Wert thou my enemy, O thou my friend, How wouldst thou worse, I wonder, than thou dost Defeat, thwart me? Oh, the sots and thralls of lust Do in spare hours more thrive than I that spend, Sir, life upon thy cause. See, banks and brakes Now, leavèd how thick! lacèd they are again With fretty chervil, look, and fresh wind shakes Them; birds build - but not I build; no, but strain, Time's eunuch, and not breed one work that wakes. Mine, O thou lord of life, send my roots rain.