Break, Break, Break by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

When my dear friend saw Day 27 Ocean, the first words that leapt into her mind were those of Alfred, Lord Tennyson:

Break, break, break,

On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!

And I would that my tongue could utter

The thoughts that arise in me.

O well for the fisherman's boy,

That he shouts for his sister at play!

O well for the sailor lad,

that he sings in his boat on the bay!

And the stately ships go on

To their haven under the hill;

But O for the touch of a vanished hand,

And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break

At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!

But the tender grace of a day that is dead

Will never come back to me.

"Star in the East" by William Ogden

From my dear friend...

One of my favorite Epiphany hymns is an obscure one called "Star in the East" by William Ogden. There's one verse I especially like:

Lo! the star in the East! Let us follow it still!

No pilgrim it e'er led astray!

Let us bow at His feet, let us study His will,

and ever His precepts obey.

What treasures have we to present to our King,

as an offering fitting and true?

Our hearts and ourselves, blessed Jesus, we bring,

Accept us and form us anew.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

© Mary Oliver.

This poem was sent to me at Christmas by a dear, dear friend.