Brigid's Day

February 2nd is lots of things besides Groundhog Day . It is also the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and Vernal Equinox (so there is always six more weeks of Winter regardless of the Groundhog's shadow or lack thereof.) It is also the feast of Brigid, the Celtic Goddess of Poetry, Midwifery and Smithcraft and a few other things depending on whom you ask. It is fitting then that there was the Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading. I missed it, due to technical difficulties brought about by sharing this computer with several children. But that is a story for another day.

What is more fitting to celebrate the Celtic Goddess of Poetry than a poem from a Celtic poet, William Butler Yeats. This is my sister, Dorothy's, favorite poem and one of mine too. Here is my belated contribution to the Cyberspace Poetry Reading:

When You Are Old

When you are old and gray and full of sleep

And nodding by the fire, take down this book,

And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,

And loved your beauty with love false or true;

But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,

And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

And bending down beside the glowing bars,

Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled

And paced upon the mountains overhead,

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Comments

[Claudia]

Okay. THAT made me cry. What a lovely poem. And I didn't know about Brigid's Day. Thanks for sharing - headed to Wikioedia to look her up!

[Catlady]

I only just found your blog - and was reading a bunch of it. Love the soup recipe - a person after my own heart... :) And you might want to check my blog, 'cause I'm just as "weird" as you, when it comes to making from scratch, lol.