Late Twilight 1825

By David Mullin

After Samuel Palmer

The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day. MACBETH. Act 3, Scene 3.

Remembering the shadow 

of the elm trees &

the trembling light 

you paint the new moon

haloed

rising over trees

church spire and cottage

a shepherd sleeps with his sheep

the ripe corn 

stooked.

You paint so many moons 

your room needs 

no candles

you sleep in their sweet 

visionary gleam as

the anabatic & katabatic winds

move in and out

of the valley of vision. 

And the valley is

safe and still now

as you follow the sound of

the wether’s bell through

the gleaning fields 

toward the morning star

with your coat tails dragging 

through the rising dew you 

see the Holy Family 

resting 

in the last of the light. 

The phrases in italics are taken from a poem written by Samuel Palmer called Shoreham: Twilight Time, written in his sketchbook for 1824. 
The poem Late Twilight 1825 is based on a painting by Samuel Palmer which can be seen here. The reverse of the painting is inscribed with the quote from Macbeth used in the epigraph. 

David Mullin is an archaeologist and writer who currently lives in West Yorkshire. He is interested in the relationships between people, places and things and has previously contributed to two pamphlets: In Search of Paradise: William Blake at Old Wyldes, Hampstead and The Moor Sisters: Bronte Landscapes, Imaginary Worlds published by Nightbird Press. He is in the process of finishing a book about the artist Samuel Palmer and is co-editor of the Journal of the Ted Hughes Society.