the hushed awakening

An early George Mackay Brown verse, written in the 1950's, and as taken from the pictured 2017 reprint of what was his very first published collection:


FURTHER THAN HOY

Further than Hoy
the mermaids whisper
through ivory shells
a-babble with vowels

Further than history
the legends thicken
the buried broken
vases and columns

Further than fame
are fleas and visions,
the hermit’s cave
under the mountain

Further than song
the hushed awakening
of country children
the harp unstroked

Further than death
Your feet will come
To the forest, black forest
Where Love walks, alone.

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George Mackay Brown (1921 - 1996)

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