John Donne, Priest, Poet (1631)

Today, in the Anglican Church, the Book of Common Prayer commemorates John Donne, priest and poet. I was struck by the beauty and aptness of this combination. Priests and poets are both breakers of the Word, albeit in different ways. Macrina Wiederkehr has a beautiful poem, Twilight Hour, which I post here. “Twilight’, she says, “is the poet’s hour”. So what follows is a prayer, a poem, for the twilight hour, whether of the day, of our lives, or our spirit.

THE TWILIGHT HOUR

Twilight is the poet’s hour,
twilight is the soul’s deep love.
Light from heave, accessible,
light and darkness become one.

As the curtain of day falls away,
the curtain of night is rising.
In the falling and the rising
the star of God’s face shines forth.

O blessed, holy twilight,
heaven’s face unveiled.
soft glow of sundown
night glow through sunray.

This is the mystical hour,
day fading; night rising;
Sweet space between day and night,
ask what you will and it shall be done,
This is the hour of grace.

Macrina Widerkehr