Today's poem from Horatio Bonar is reminiscent of the hymn by Francis of Assisi, All Creatures of Our God and King (Cantico di fratre sole,
Song of Brother Sun, circa 1225).
In Bonar's poem, two robust and undervalued words are repeated in each stanza: earnest and steadfast. They are good ones to hang on to in the midst of a busy week and lives.
Both earnest and steadfast are not used much in our modern, everyday conversation. Earnest implies having qualities of depth and firmness; having a purpose and being steadily and soberly eager in pursuing it. Steadfast means in a fixed in direction; steadily directed: a steadfast gaze; firm in purpose, resolution, faith, attachment; unwavering. Both are good words, loaded with deep meaning. Bonar chose well for his poem. Note how the meaning of these words relates to the first word of lines two through four in each stanza.
As one who wrote over 600 hymns, his poem includes a repeating refrain at the end of each of the stanzas. The meter is somewhat unusual, 6 6 6 6 6 12 (or 6 + 6). The only hymn tune commonly sung that might be used with this poem is the one for When Morning Guilds the Skies (6 6 6 6 6 6). Bonar's poem could be sung to this tune, omitting one line of each stanza (perhaps line 4.)
Pastor Bonar and his wife lost five children early in their young lives. Keep
that background in mind as you read his poem, as well as the beautiful
countryside he inhabited in Scotland.
Creation
In Earnest
O ever-earnest
sun!
Unwearied in thy
work,
Unhalting in thy
course,
Unlingering in
thy path,
Teach me your
earnest ways,
That mine may be
a life of steadfast work and praise.
O ever-earnest
stars!
Unchanging in
your light,
Unfaltering in
your race,
Unswerving in
your round,
Teach me your
earnest ways
That mine may be
a life of steadfast work and praise.
O ever-earnest
earth!
Doing thy Maker’s
work,
Fulfilling his
great will,
With all thy
morns and evens,
Teach me your
earnest ways,
That mine may be
a life of steadfast work and praise.
O ever-earnest
streams!
Flowing still on and
on,
Through vale, or
field, or moor,
In darkness or in
light,
Teach
me your earnest ways,
That
mine may be a life of steadfast work and praise.
O
ever-earnest flowers!
That
with untiring growth
Shoot
up, and spread abroad
Your
fragrance and your joy,
Teach
me your earnest ways,
That
mine may be a life of steadfast work and praise.
O ever-earnest sea!
Constant in flow and ebb,
Heaving to moon
and sun,
Unchanging in thy
change,
Teach me your
earnest ways,
That
mine may be a life of steadfast work and praise.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MUSIC AND OTHER LINKS
Settings of All Creatures of Our God and King
Fernando Ortega with photography that is both beautiful and whimsical
And a song from the movie about St. Francis
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