{"id":103,"date":"2007-03-30T07:12:30","date_gmt":"2007-03-30T07:12:30","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2007-03-30T15:36:33","modified_gmt":"2007-03-30T15:36:33","slug":"hugh-macdiarmid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/archives\/103","title":{"rendered":"Hugh MacDiarmid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scottish poet Hugh McDairmid<\/a> is considered the “most important” modern poet of Scotland. He likely was an Enneagram 5, taking to heart the idea (from Rilke), that ‘the poet must know everything’ and strove to write poetry that contained all knowledge (shades of Comenius!). He had one of the best comebacks to the accusation of being a plagiarist: ‘The greater the plagiarism the greater the work of art.’ MacDiarmid is one of those enigmatic poets who, not a Christian (he was Communist) nevertheless produced some great Christian poems. His poem, “I heard Christ Sing” inspired this graphic (computer with sketch pad):
\n
\n<\/p>\n

I Heard Christ Sing<\/em><\/p>\n

I heard Christ sing quhile roond him dar
\nThe twal\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd disciples in a ring,
\nAnd here\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds the dance I saw them dance,
\nAnd the sang I heard him sing.<\/p>\n

Ane, twa, three, and their right feet heich,
\nFower, five, six, and doon wi\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd them,
\nSeevin, aught, nine, and up wi\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd the left,
\nTen, eleven, twal\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd, and doon they came.<\/p>\n

And Christ he stude I\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd the middle there,
\nAnd was the thirteenth man,
\nAnd sang the bonniest sang that e\u00ef\u00bf\u00bder
\nWas sung sin\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd Time began.<\/p>\n

And Christ he was the centerpiece,
\nWi\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd three on ilka side.
\nMy hert stude still, and the sun stude still
\nBut still the dancers plied.<\/p>\n

O I wot it was a maypole,
\nAs a man micht seek to see,
\nWi\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd the twal\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd disciples dancin\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd room\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd,
\nWhile Christ sang like a lintie.<\/p>\n

The twal\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd points o\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd the compass
\nMade jubilee roon\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd and roon\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd,
\nAnd but for the click-click-clack o\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd the feet,
\nChrist\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds sang was the only soon\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd.<\/p>\n

And there was nae time that could be tauld
\nFrae a clock wha\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds haun\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds stude still,
\nQuhile the figures a\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd gaed bizzin roon\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd
\n—I wot it was God\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds will.<\/p>\n

Wersh is the vinegar,
\nAnd the sword is sharp.
\nWi\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd the tremblin\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd sunbeams
\nAgain for my harp,
\nI sing to Thee.<\/p>\n

The spirit of man
\nIs a bird in a cage,
\nThat beats on the bars
\nWi\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd a goodly rage,
\nAnd fain \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdud be free.<\/p>\n

Twice-caged it is,
\nIn life and in death,
\nYet it claps its wings
\nWi\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd a restless faith,
\nAnd sings as it may.<\/p>\n

Then fill my mouth
\nWi\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd the needfu\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd words
\nThat sall turn its wings,
\nInto whirlin swords,
\nWhen it hears what I say.<\/p>\n

Hearken my cry,
\nAnd let me speak,
\nThat when it hears
\nIt shall lift its beak,
\nAnd sing as it should.<\/p>\n

Sweet is the song
\nThat is lost in its throat,
\nAnd fain \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdud I hear
\nIts openin\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd note
\nAs I hang in the rood.<\/p>\n

And when I rise
\nAgain from the dead,
\nLet me, I pray,
\nBe accompanied
\nBy the spirit of man.<\/p>\n

Yea, as I rise
\nFrom earth to Heaven
\nFain \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdud I know
\nThat Thou hast given
\nConsent to my plan—<\/p>\n

Even as the stars
\nSang here at my birth,
\nLet Heaven hear
\nThe song of the earth
\nThen, for my sake.<\/p>\n

The thorns are black
\nAnd callous the nails.
\nAs a bird its bars
\nMy hand assails
\nHarpstrings . . . that break!<\/p>\n

O I wot they\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdll lead the warl\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd a dance
\nAnd I wot the sang shall be,
\nAs a white sword loupin\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd at the hert
\nO\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd a\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd eternity.<\/p>\n

Judas and Christ stude face to face,
\nAnd mair I couldna\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd see,
\nBut I wot he did God\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds will wha made
\nSiccar o\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd Calvary.<\/p>\n

—Hugh MacDiarmid
\n
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scottish poet Hugh McDairmid is considered the “most important” modern poet of Scotland. He likely was an Enneagram 5, taking to heart the idea (from Rilke), that ‘the poet must know everything’ and strove to write poetry that contained all … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}