In Piam Memoriam

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1

Created purely from glass the saint stands, 
Exposing his gifted quite empty hands 
Like a conjurer about to begin,
A righteous man begging of righteous men.

2

In the sun lily-and-gold-coloured,
Filtering the cruder light, he has endured, 
A feature for our regard; and will keep; 
Of worldly purity the stained archetype.

3

The scummed pond twitches. The great holly-tree, 
Emptied and shut, blows clear of wasting snow, 
The common, puddled substance: beneath, 
Like a revealed mineral, a new earth.

© Geoffrey Hill