other translations - Gawthrop

And from that vast and infinite space
is the darkness called
on this, the longest night.

Now, into that mystery midst earth and sky
come the treasures of darkness;
riches wrapped in illusory, velvet  blackness.
No softness, no golden light tarries here
but hard, glistening cold reigns sovereign
on this, the longest night.

Here rules the more ancient light.
Frozen  fields of shattered glass,
crystalline nebulae,
worlds without end,
named and numbered by the Giver of wisdom
glitter in their eternal dance.

Compass me, O compass me
on this, the longest night.
Ransom me from earthly sorrows
from demons and deadly fears
and sing  to me the magic runes
of starlight and creation.

Compass me, O compass me
both  in body and in spirit,
O Thou who guards the ancient light,
Keep watch this longest night.

And here in jeweled darkness
are mysteries and prophecies bequeathed.
Illumined are pathways, dreams and secret ways
deliquescent truths caught in gossamer webs
revealed on this, the longest night.

Breathless, suspended in that longest moment,
mortal flesh falls silent and we wait;
for black to turn to darkest blue;
to tip again from dark to light, from cold to warmth
for this, the longest night, to turn to day.

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