Metaphysical Poetry &Philosophy Entropy | 15 Jul 2006
The Island
And God said, I will build a church here And cause this people to
worship me, And afflict them with poverty and sickness
In return for centuries of hard work
And patience. And its walls shall be hard as Their hearts,
and its windows let in the light Grudgingly, as their minds do,
and the priest’s words be drowned By the wind’s caterwauling.
All this I will do, Said God, and watch the bitterness in
their eyes Grow, and their lips suppurate with Their prayers.
And their women shall bring forth On my altar,
and I will choose the best Of them to be thrown back into the sea.
And that was only on one island.
-R.S.Thomas (1913 – 2000 )