Sunday 28th September 8:00pm
St Mary's Primrose Hill
Elsworthy Road London NW3 3DJ
A service of Compline, interwoven with
spoken and sung settings of poems by RS Thomas
People who know and love RS Thomas relish
the way his poems move between penetrating
questioning, mordant wit and the occasional
glimmer of hard-worn faith in the crucified God.
This service sets the urgent rhythms of Thomas'
poetry in counterpoint with the ancient cadences
of the Compline liturgy.
Poems treasured and less familiar read and sung
in mesmerising settings.
Led by Revd Dr Ewan King.
The Bright Field
I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying
on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.
(R. S. Thomas)