Ailsa Craig

As promised a little while ago, I now return to another poem of John Keats. It has been commented that “unlike other works by Keats that focus on romantic themes and personal experiences, To Ailsa Rock delves into natural phenomena, presenting an objective and timeless perspective. The poem’s austere language and lack of human emotion reflect the author’s preoccupation with the vastness of time and the insignificance of human presence in the face of nature’s grandeur. ” Ailsa Rock or Ailsa Craig can be viewd from the Ayrshire coast and is prominent for those who sail between Scotland and N. Ireland. I have lost count of the times I have sailed past the rock on the car-ferry! Further, when I had the joy of living in Troon it was visible from our home, the church Manse! Ailsa Craig has found its way onto the page by poets Wordworth, Burns, Heaney and Sir Walter Scott to name a few. Standing 1110′ above the sea level and eight and a half miles from shore, Ailsa Craig is a remnant volcanic plug consisting of high quality granite which is still quarried for the manufacture of curling stones!

Ailsa Rock
Hearken, thou craggy ocean pyramid!
Give answer from thy voice – the sea-fowl’s screams!
When were thy shoulders mantled in huge streams?
When from the sun was thy broad forehead hid?
How long is’t since the mighty Power bid
Thee heave to airy sleep from fathom dreams –
Sleep in the lap of thunder or sunbeams –
Or when gray clouds are thy cold coverlid?
Thou answerest not, for thou art dead asleep.
Thy life is but two dead eternities –
The last in air, the former in the deep!
First with the whales, last with the eagle skies!
Drown’d wast thou till an earthquake made thee steep,
Another cannot wake thy giant size. John Keats

Prayer:
Bless to us, O God, this day, fresh made.
In the chorus of birds, bless us.
In the scent of blossom, bless us.
In the wet grass and the spring flowers, bless us.
Bless us and heal us
for we come to you in love and trust.
We come to you in expectant hope. ( Iona Community)