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Stranger

Thomas Merton, Thomas Merton poetry, Christian, Christian poetry, Catholic poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by Thomas Merton
(1915 - 1968) Timeline

Original Language
English

Christian : Catholic
20th Century

When no one listens
To the quiet trees
When no one notices
The sun in the pool.

Where no one feels
The first drop of rain
Or sees the last star

Or hails the first morning
Of a giant world
Where peace begins
And rages end:

One bird sits still
Watching the work of God:
One turning leaf,
Two falling blossoms,
Ten circles upon the pond.

One cloud upon the hillside,
Two shadows in the valley
And the light strikes home.
Now dawn commands the capture
Of the tallest fortune,
The surrender
Of no less marvelous prize!

Closer and clearer
Than any wordy master,
Thou inward Stranger
Whom I have never seen,

Deeper and cleaner
Than the clamorous ocean,
Seize up my silence
Hold me in Thy Hand!

Now act is waste
And suffering undone
Laws become prodigals
Limits are torn down
For envy has no property
And passion is none.

Look, the vast Light stands still
Our cleanest Light is One!

 

 

-- from The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton, by Thomas Merton

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Birds
  Bower
  Dawn
  Light
  Pain and Wounding


Recommended Books


The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton, by Thomas Merton
Selected Poems of Thomas Merton, by Thomas Merton
The Strange Islands: Poems by Thomas Merton, by Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton Monk & Poet: A Critical Study, by George Woodcock
A Thomas Merton Reader, by Thomas Merton / Edited by Thomas P. McDonnell

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2009 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.