Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower; 
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay.
--Robert Frost, 1923 (1924 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winner)

Cardinal, Sunflower and Violet
watercolor by my daughter when age 12
copyright held by artist

Ferreting out exactly what Robert Frost's religious beliefs were are difficult. Things are compounded by the losses in his life. However, as this poem alludes to the Garden of Eden, the first creation by God, and how it was sunk by the first sin (Genesis 3), it is being incorporated on this Christian site.
Although this poem seems bleak, it does speak of cycles of life that will continue to come about in this imperfect world: there will be new flowers or leaves on the tree next year; there will be a dawn tomorrow; people will die but leave their descendants after them.

In May

The time that hints the coming leaf, 
 When buds are dropping chaff and scale,  
And, wafted from the greening vale,
Are pungent odors, keen as grief.

Now shad-bush wears a robe of white,  
And orchards hint a leafy screen; 
 While willows drop their veils of green
Above the limpid waters bright.

New songsters come with every morn, 
 And whippoorwill is overdue, 
 While spice bush gold is coined anew
Before her tardy leaves are born.

The cowslip now with radiant face  
Makes mimic sunshine in the shade, 
 Anemone is not afraid,
Although she trembles in her place.

Now adder's-tongue new gilds the mould*,
The ferns unroll their woolly coils,  
And honey-bee begins her toils
Where maple trees their fringe unfold.

The goldfinch dons his summer coat,  
The wild bee drones her mellow bass, 
 And butterflies of hardy race
In genial sunshine bask and float.

The Artist now is sketching in 
 The outlines of his broad design  
So soon to deepen line on line,
Till June and summer days begin.

Now Shadow soon will pitch her tent
Beneath the trees in grove and field,
And all the wounds of life be healed,
By orchard bloom and lilac scent.

--John Burroughs, 1837-1921

*"Mold" in British English.  Flowers are now adorning the ground, where before moldy leaf remnants lay

The Bone that Has No Marrow

            [originally untitled]

Posting this for Lent, though it does not have specifically Lenten language.  Lent, besides reflecting on our personal sinfulness, is often a time of renewal, of seeking a new path. This poem hints at the need to do that, lest we flounder with no good purpose.      

                        #127

The Bone that has no Marrow,
What Ultimate for that?
It is not fit for Table
For Beggar or for Cat.

A Bone has obligations —
A Being has the same —
A Marrowless Assembly
Is culpabler than shame.*

Nicodemus Visiting Christ
  Henry Ossawa Taylor, 1899

But how shall finished Creatures
A function fresh obtain?
Old Nicodemus’ Phantom
Confronting us again**!

--Emily Dickinson, 1830s.  Part One:  Life

                                        
*A bone without marrow leaves nothing for a creature to eat.  A bone without marrow cannot fulfill its obligations of holding up the body.  A person who similarly can't hold up their obligations is shameful.

**The poet asks how creatures (people) without this structure can remake themselves. She revisits John chapter 3 where Jesus tells Nicodemus that a person must be "reborn" of the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God.  Nicodemus is puzzled.  Jesus says the Holy Spirit has to do the transforming. Sometimes John chapter 3 is read during Lent.

Flowers in February

The annual return of the snapdragons and African daisies. 

 

More Sledding... More on Seasons

December 2019 just south of Pine, AZ  (north of Payson)

Yes, Arizona!!!

 

After the flood, God told Noah:

"Through all the days of the earth,
Seedtime and Harvest,
Cold and Heat,
Summer and Winter.
Day and Night
Will not take rest 
[cease, pause, have a 'Sabbath'.] "
  
  ---Genesis 8:22; original translation

This is but one of our seasons as we move through time.

Past Sledding Post 

I Will Praise the Lord at All Times

Winter has a joy for me,
While the Saviour's charms I read,
Lowly, meek, from blemish free,
In the snowdrop's pensive head.

Spring returns, and brings along
Life-invigorating suns:
Hark! the turtle's plaintive song 
Seems to speak His dying groans!

Summer has a thousand charms,
All expressive of His worth;
'Tis His sun that lights and warms,
His the air that cools the earth.

What! has autumn left to say
Nothing of a Saviour's grace?
Yes, the beams of milder day
Tell me of his smiling face.

Light appears with early dawn,
While the sun makes haste to rise;
See His bleeding beauties drawn
On the blushes of the skies.

Evening with a silent pace,
Slowly moving in the west,
Shews an emblem of His grace,
Points to an eternal rest. 

--William Cowper, ~1772; Olney, England

Light Shining Out of Darkness

God moves in a mysterious way,   

 His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea,    

And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines    

 Of never-failing skill,

He treasures up His bright designs,     

And works His sov’reign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,  

The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break    

In blessings on your head.

Cowper & Newton
(see below)

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense
But trust Him for His grace.
Behind a frowning providence*
He hides a smiling face. 

His purposes will ripen fast,    

Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,     

But sweet will be the flow’r.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,     

And scan His work in vain;

God is His own interpreter,   

And He will make it plain.

William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper"); English, 1779

*Lutherans would likely not express themselves in terms of a "frowning providence."  God is merciful, even when we cannot see it. The problem is we cannot see it.  Part of it is the sorrows and troubles of living in a broken world.  God does not automatically intervene at every turn. In addition, there are the blinders we have, such as Cowper's tendency towards depression (see below).  
     Gerard Manley Hopkins, also a poet of faith, also featured on this blog, once spoke of a heaven made of bronze, off of which his prayers bounced.  He was in circumstances that drained him and had that same sensation, though at some level, he always knew God loved him. 

     A slightly altered version of this hymn/poem has appeared on this blog before.  I have recently had reason to look more closely at the life of Cowper.

     Cowper, though a man of faith, was plagued by periods of deep depression. At his time, there were no effective medications or psychotherapy.  Friends did the best they could to intervene, and he had to be institutionalized occasionally.

     Cowper was probably born with a somewhat sensitive temperament.  His mother died when he was six, giving birth to his youngest brother.  William and this brother, John, were the only two of his siblings to survive to adulthood.  Compounding this, his mother's maids lied, saying his mother had just gone away for awhile. Though William first disbelieved this, the maids persisted, falsely raising his hopes. When the truth sank in, he crashed further.  On top of this, he changed schools frequently as a child and was bullied somewhat.

     In adulthood, Cowper counted John Newton as a friend.  Newton had been a reprehensible slave trader.  He had a true conversion and wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace."

     Other public figures counted Cowper as a favorite poet. One was the authoress Jane Austen, who mentions him in some of her works. Another was William Wilberforce, who spearheaded British efforts to make slavery illegal.

      Here are some links/resources for further guidance:       

Ella, George.  William Cowper: Poet Of Paradise by George Ella, published by Evangelical Press 1993

Wikipedia: William Cowper

Austen Connection "Faith, Science, Joy, … and Jane Austen!" (Cox, Brenda S.)

The Olney Hymns (Blair, Bob)