VERSES FROM VARIOUS SOURCES

1981–1990

 

From THE BOOK OF PREFACES 2000

Poem: Alasdair Gray © 2005

14 – The Dream of the Cross, attributed to Bishop Cynewulf, translation of the start

 

Ho there! The best of dreams      I will tell

that met me      in the middle night

when talkative men      lie still.

It seemed that I saw      a marvellous tree

aloft in the sky,      and branched with light

beaming brightly.      All that beacon was

begotten in gold,      in rubies standing

fairly and fixed,      with five gems likewise

up on that axlespan.

                                 Behold there all angel bands

brighten through time and space:

                                 there was no sin-stained gallows

but those who behold      are holy ghosts

men upon mold      and all this great creation.   

 
Contents