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This month's poem picked by Phil Kay | Previous choices

The Windhover

To Christ Our Lord

I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
   dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
   Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
   As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
   Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, — the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!

No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Classic poem About the current choice | Previous choices

by Julia Boll, Amanda Palmer, Nick Holdstock, Sandra Alland, Helena Nelson

Valid CSS! Scottish Arts Council Paul Hamlyn Foundation

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Ryan Van Winkle Go straight to Reading Room online discussion

Ryan Van Winkle, Reader in Residence for SPL and Edinburgh City Libraries, puts questions to James Byrne, editor of The Wolf magazine...

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Don't miss this autumn …

Coming soon to the Scottish Poetry Library

Czech poet Petr Borkovec and his translator, poet Justin Quinn. And Kathleen Jamie. (And a change of venue…)

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