A Spell in the Library: A sonnet for summoning Geoffrey Hill!

In this episode we look at my slender volumes of modern poetry and take down my copy of Geoffrey Hill’s Tenebrae. I speak of how much these poems have meant to me and tell the strange tale of how I came to meet the poet.Here is the text of the poem I recited from memory. You can read my analysis of Hill's Lachrymal sequence in my book Faith, Hope and Poetry (www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1...)
Lachrymae Amantis
What is there in my heart that you should sue
so fiercely for its love? What kind of care
brings you as though a stranger to my door
through the long night and in the icy dew
seeking the heart that will not harbour you,
that keeps itself religiously secure?
At this dark solstice filled with frost and fire
your passion’s ancient wounds must bleed anew.
So many nights the angel of my house
has fed such urgent comfort through a dream,
whispered, ‘your lord is coming, he is close’
that I have drowsed half-faithful for a time
bathed in pure tones of promise and remorse
‘tomorrow I shall wake to welcome him.’

[@dw2hite]

What a wonderful story about Geoffrey Hill. He is one of my favorite poets. Brilliant. "Against the burly air I strode/Crying the miracles of God." Thank you.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

yes, he is one of the greats!

[@MerCee113]

These spells are so delightful, but this one especially had me smiling. Thank you for sharing these beautiful lines to reflect on this Holy Week.

[@alanwindsor6383]

I thought nobody loved what I value. Now I don't feel so alone.

[@lordhogarth]

Wonderful. Thank you.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@tombroughton6757]

I loved this! What a wonderful story! You have a great way of telling a story ... so much so that I was able to visualize everything you were describing. Thank you for sharing these precious moments with us, Dr. Guite.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

Thank you so much!

[@tokyobear]

Hilarious finale to that anecdote at the end! Made me laugh and cry. Also thanks for introducing me to Hill through the video. I really lkike those poems you read.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@codykaufmann7769]

Mr. Guite my heart is so full listening to you read such beautiful works... I long for heavenly days where I may sit at your side and listen to versus recited directly to our Lord. God bless you and thanks for sharing.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

Thanks for listening

[@r.pittman3]

-cannot come to him (Christ) but cannot turn away...I am recalling some crucifixions may have occurred at one's height...not so much "up on a cross" but quite literally a cross along the road, at one's own height...if an encounter occurs within that dynamic...at such times there is no "up there" but here - in front of me...so much in this experience of having been somehow captured in a moment..."such urgent comfort through a dream...bathed in pure tones of promise and remorse" this was an experience...how hard it is to un-ring a bell!

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

thans for your response, yes its a powerful poem and indeed Hill's whole sequence is brilliant!

[@jeremydamgaard22]

Greetings from across the pond, Malcolm! So incredibly grateful that you continue to share your library with us and hoping that you will have the time to share after we're given the "all clear". So, it is my understanding then, that if I should recite something from The Singing Bowl or Sounding the Seasons, you'll appear so that I can enjoy a pint of Old Peculier with you?! Cheers!

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

If only! but yes, I hope to continue these little spells in the library as they are a pleasure to make and seem to bring other people pleasure too!

[@aaronpoems7755]

What a brilliant rhythm to those poems!! 😮

[@vangidemaster4464]

How delightful!! Thank you!

[@juliewells4310]

Such a great story!

[@johnthebiker300]

I have a copy of The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Peguy with a signed dedication to my mother in it, dated 1983 and one of Hills poetry books is fully dedicated to my father. I cannot recall which one.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

Wow! that's something to treasure!

[@jackhaney3699]

Amazing poem and in the presence of the poet

[@-NewtonPiper-]

What a wonderful story, it made me smile 😊 Thank you for sharing. 😊

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

You are so kind

[@jamesmoore3002]

Spell-bounding!

[@dalepiper6693]

What an amazing story...I loved it.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@mf2065]

This is wonderful. I immediately subscribed and started working through your other videos.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

Welcome aboard!

[@seherm.2488]

Thank you for this beautiful story, I am pretty touched by it.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ThatEonDude]

What a lovely video! Thank you for posting. You have an amazing reading voice too lol

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

thanks!

[@lauramazza-dixon6798]

I am thrilled to learn that there is a book of sonnets based on the Lachrimae or Seven Teares in Seven Passionate Pavans by John Dowland. Thank you for introducing me what sounds to be a incredible collection, and for your beautiful perspective on the poet's own journey therein.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

yes, and some of those poems are so fine you feel that Dowland could have set them to music!

[@lauramazza-dixon6798]

@@MalcolmGuitespell If the other poems by Geoffrey Hill are anything like this one, Dowland might well have used them in his songs. Hill writes with words and images borrowed from that Elizabethan lute song tradition, "What is there in my heart, that you should sue so fiercely for its love?" -and then "seeking the heart that will not harbour you, that keeps itself religiously secure," with an acknowledgment of his own, more modern spiritual resistance to belief - and "bathed in pure tones of promise and remorse" with a new determination, and possibly ,a new openness. Just gorgeous. I will have it memorized after a few more listens. Thank you.

[@JHarder1000]

Blesx you! Iam taking the liberty to share this with my page, The Best Of Everything.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

thanks!

[@JHarder1000]

@@MalcolmGuitespell You're welcome!

[@Edrinagal]

7:24 dora moment 😳