If it had roots, the pulling-out would be easy, but, being rhizome, it tangles its way far, far out, as though sending emissaries, ambassadors; but which way do they travel? Do they depart or return? The beginning hides sneekily under soil, like a power-line, a waterpipe, some subterranean transport network, while the visible growth burstsContinue reading “Meditation”
Author Archives: Matthew Pullar
In Translation
If you find them worth publishing, you have my permission to do so – as a sort of ‘White Book’ concerning my negotiations with myself – and with God. (Dag Hammarskjöld, in a letter to Leif Belfrage)* And so they sat together, the poet without “a single word of Swedish” at hand, and the translator,Continue reading “In Translation”
What we don’t know
It is hard for those who live near a Bank To doubt the security of their money. T.S. Eliot Only those who have felt the cold will remember to close the door. Only those who are fallen or proud will perceive the rule of law. Only those who live far from the bowl will knowContinue reading “What we don’t know”
No Ordinary Sundays
Before you lies my strength and my weakness; preserve the one, heal the other. Before you lies my knowledge and my ignorance; where you have opened to me, receive me as I come in; where you have shut to me, open to me as I knock. Let me remember you, let me understand you, letContinue reading “No Ordinary Sundays”
Uncovered Gems #5: The Danish Psalmist
In the Danish Golden Age of literature and philosophy, there were three significant names that still stand out today: Hans Christian Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard and N.F.S. Grundtvig. The non-Danish world has very much heard of the first two but the third is as unknown as it is unpronounceable. And perhaps understandably so. He is ofContinue reading “Uncovered Gems #5: The Danish Psalmist”
Winter Song
Write me a poem like the early spring, pluck me a chord like a green flower-stem. Open the dance where we know all the steps to these known tunes that never will end. Weave me a curtain to let in the light. Cast me a rainbow without any dye. Spin me a question without anContinue reading “Winter Song”
Uncovered Gems #4: François Mauriac
The list of Nobel laureates for Literature contains more French men than it does of any other demographic. That should not put you off reading Mauriac. But you may have trouble locating his work. His most famous novel, Thérèse Desqueyroux, is possibly the only one you’ll find in a bookshop today, due to the recentContinue reading “Uncovered Gems #4: François Mauriac”
Uncovered Gems #3: “The Singer” by Calvin Miller
“How did you manage to make them cherish all this nothingness?” he asked the World Hater. “I simply make them feel embarrassed to admit that they are incomplete. A man would rather close his eyes than see himself as your Father-Spirit does. I teach them to exalt their emptiness and thus preserve the dignity ofContinue reading “Uncovered Gems #3: “The Singer” by Calvin Miller”
Uncovered Gems #2: Ruth Pitter
Last week I posted a poem in honour of Christina Rossetti, who I declared one of the Anglican church’s greatest literary exports. Today, in this week’s uncovering, I want to share with you the work of a widely forgotten gem, the Anglican poet Ruth Pitter. I have my friend Nathanael to thank for this discovery,Continue reading “Uncovered Gems #2: Ruth Pitter”
The Language of Flowers: For Christina Rossetti
As an Anglican myself, I have to say that our literary exports don’t get much better than Christina Rossetti. Granted, she’s in formidable company, alongside George Herbert, John Donne, William Cowper, C.S. Lewis, T.S. Eliot and R.S. Thomas (why did you need to have the middle initial S in order to be a successful 20th-centuryContinue reading “The Language of Flowers: For Christina Rossetti”
The Consolations of Writing 