SPELL TO BRING LOST CREATURES HOME

Poem: Kathleen Raine (1908-2003) ©2009 The Literary Estate of Kathleen Raine, from "The Collected Works of Kathleen Raine", Golgonooza Press, 2000.

Music ©1990 Dick Swain

 

Gordon – 12-string guitar

Dick Swain found this haunting poem by one of England’s great poets, and made this magical setting for it. Dick is a fine singer of different kinds of music, and is admired for his keen discernment to be singing with Nancy Mattila.

 

 

Home, home, wild birds home

Lark to the grass, wren to the hedge

Rooks to the treetops, swallows to the eaves

Eagle to its crag, raven to its stone

All birds home

 

Home, home, strayed ones home

Rabbit to burrow, fox to earth

Mouse to the wainscot, rat to the barn

Cattle to the byre, dog to the hearth

All beasts home

 

Home, home, wanderers home

Cormorant to rock, gulls from the storm

Boat to the harbor

Safe sail home

 

Children home, at evening home

Boys and girls, from the roads come home

Out of the rain, sons come home

From the gathering dusk, young ones home

Young ones home

 

Home, home, all souls home

Dead to the graveyard, living to the lamplight

Old to the fireside, girls from the twilight

Babe to the breast, and heart to its haven

Lost ones home

 

 

Spell to Bring Lost Creatures Home is recorded on the album Other Eyes