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Nocturnal Litany I

“From all malevolence the night employs….”
—James Agee, “Epithalamium”
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From all malevolence the night employs
To haunt our ragged hearts and weary brains
With bitterness that pulses through the veins
Of memory with its unrelenting noise;
From nightmare images that hover over us
Portending toxic days, Good Lord, deliver us.
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From cynicism’s clamor that destroys
True faith; from dread that shadows sleep, or reigns
In dreams designed by doubt; from giving rein
To vexing fears, whose echoes hush the voice
Behind the burning bush, aflame and quiverous—
From fleeing holy ground, Good Lord, deliver us.
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From vitriolic passions that disguise
Their venom as a balm while, serpentine,
They surge vindictively through every vein,
Convincing us that it will make us wise
To eat the fruit of malice that will wither us;
From all such deadly thoughts, Good Lord, deliver us.
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Oh Lamb of God to whom all thoughts are bare,
All dark is light, accept our evening prayer.
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from Notes On Time
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Nocturnal Litany II

“Lighten our darkness, we beseech Thee, O Lord….”
—The Order for Daily Evening Prayer,
The Book of Common Prayer
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From riotous rage that makes our hearts its lair
And stalks the opportunity to gain
Imagined justice for remembered pain,
Devouring health and peace and honest prayer;
From ghastly unforgiveness, that cadaverous
Attendant at hell’s gate, Good Lord, deliver us.
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From dabbling at the edges of despair
When daily misery seems pre-ordained,
And loss of hope that life will be explained
Starts draining our capacity to care;
When senseless circumstances turn carnivorous,
Consuming mind and flesh, Good Lord, deliver us.
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When perseverance has no strength to spare,
And pessimism’s thickest links of chain
Wind tightly round our hearts till we complain
That they are heavier than we can bear—
An inner suit of armor that will smother us—
Lighten our heaviness, Good Lord; deliver us.
.
When we would sleep with no desire to wake,
Arise, Lord God, and save us, for thy sake.
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from Notes On Time
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Cynthia Erlandson is a poet and fitness professional living in Michigan.  Her second collection of poems, Notes on Time, has recently been published by AuthorHouse, as was her first (2005) collection, These Holy Mysteries.  Her poems have also appeared in First Things, Modern Age, The North American Anglican, The Orchards Poetry Review, The Book of Common Praise hymnal, and elsewhere.

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22 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    These are two precious poems with prayers for deliverances from the things that bedevil us! Beautifully written with meaningful words and rhymes I can savor. Your poetry always enchants me, elicits deep thoughts line by line, and inspires me to stop “dabbling at the edges of despair” to ask the Lord for guidance and help when my own “perseverance has no strength to spare.” Both are superb in stimulating the senses and eliciting visceral responses internally in my mind and soul.

    Reply
    • Cynthia Erlandson

      Thank you so much, Roy. I’m very grateful for the lovely way you’ve described the effects these litanies have on you, and that you find my poems “enchanting!” I’m grateful, too, for the quotes from James Agee and the Prayer Book, without which the poems never would have gotten started.

      Reply
  2. Brian A. Yapko

    This pair of devotional poems is absolutely beautiful, Cynthia. I especially love the series of couplets ending with “deliver us” and the clever rhymes and near-rhymes that you used there. There are many memorable phrases. I especially like “cynicism’s clamor” and “When senseless circumstances turn carnivorous…” Your work is infused with an inspiring spirit of deep faith. They are a blessing.

    Reply
    • Cynthia Erlandson

      I’m so pleased that you find these inspiring, Brian. I have been similarly moved by many of your poems.

      Reply
  3. Margaret Coats

    Truthful beauty in good measure, Cynthia. You indicate well some of the major demons of the night, while reminding us how prayer is best attuned to time. In the first poem, I like the note that cynicism’s clamor destroys true faith. Every word counts. Cynics do not always clamor, but are more dangerous when they do. And they can maintain or tolerate a shallow faith which is only a generic variety, not heartfelt or salutary, and thus the reader is warned to value deeper and fuller faith. But most of all I like your indication that “fleeing holy ground” is an error, one that may turn out to be hellbound. You don’t say so, but where do these refugees think they’re going? The way back is a difficult one. Temptation from those vitriolic passions disguising venom as balm is far too frequent. My favorite word in the second litany is “carnivorous.” It’s not only senseless circumstances that consume mind and flesh, but the words suggest how “senseless” is mindless sensuality, abusing both intelligence and the physical senses that become depraved and incapable of appreciating good. These prayer poems can take the reader beyond his or her usual nighttime thoughts, to envision fruitful preparation and resistance to the threats of the night, and that is a most meditative good!

    Reply
    • Cynthia Erlandson

      I’m really happy that you’ve found so much in these poems, Margaret — thank you very much! The phrases seemed to come rushing into my mind from the epigraph by Agee, and from the repeated “deliver us” phrase from the Prayer Book litany; so I was focused more on the sounds of the words as I was writing, and I don’t think I fully comprehended their implications at the time; but you have articulated much meaning from them.

      Reply
    • Cynthia Erlandson

      Much thanks, Jeffrey. I also really liked your poem “The Covenant” on Catholic Poetry Room. I’d like to be able to comment on that site. God bless you, too.

      Reply
  5. Daniel Kemper

    The craft involved here is remarkable; the precision is high, the flow is natural; the language consistent and pitched at just the right timber of formal-technical and earthy-graspable-beautiful. My personal favorite effect is how these feelings and ideations are made into active beings, e.g. “from riotous rage that makes our hearts its lair.” I love the beauty of The Book of Common Prayer and I think you faithfully harmonize with its tones here. Wonderful.

    Reply
    • Cynthia Erlandson

      Thank you for these very encouraging comments, Daniel! It is always good to find another admirer of The Book of Common Prayer. I have learned so much from it, about how to pray and about how to write, by purely absorbing its poetic style over the more than three decades I have been worshipping with it and using it. Epigraph aside, I would not have been able to write this without its influence on me.

      Reply
  6. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Cynthia, to my mind these beautiful and admirably crafted poems with sumptuous language are a much-needed message in today’s wicked world where we are pitted against each other by our own governments and consumed by angst and anger.

    Your wonderful words bring to mind “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”. I believe that with the full armor of God this is possible – “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

    For me, your poems tap into a timeless problem with words that sing to me. Cynthia, thank you.

    Reply
    • Cynthia Erlandson

      You are so right, Susan, that the night isn’t the only creature that employs malevolence — though of course the spiritual forces of evil prefer to operate in darkness. There is darkness in human hearts everywhere, including our own, and yes, we need the full armor of God in this earthly war. Thank you for your comments; it makes me happy that my poems “sing” to you!

      Reply
  7. Julian D. Woodruff

    Cynthia, the eloquence here is rousing, but you don’t allow it to interfere with the directness of the pleas. You are both an accomplished poet and a clear sighted examiner of the interior life. Thank you for these inspiring poems.

    Reply
    • Cynthia Erlandson

      You are very welcome, Julian, and thank you for reading them, and for your kind comments.

      Reply
  8. Alan Orsborn

    I like the way you hold up these nocturnal experiences for us, something we can all relate to I imagine (but perhaps rarely talk about) with the solution, prayer. This is exactly how I get through these bitter watches of the night, in fact, last night praying for help against my own self pity. You have shown us what poetry can do for us by not only enriching our lives with beauty, but even in practical ways, how to live.

    Reply
    • Cynthia Erlandson

      I’m grateful that you found both beauty and practical enrichment here, Alan — thank you!

      Reply
  9. jd

    These are beautiful poems, Cynthia, and I am envious of your ability to write them. Not envious really because I would never wish for you to be without this gift. I find these so beautiful that I will copy them into my journal dedicated to God which I am filling with other’s writings that speak to Him as I wish I could. Thank you for them.

    Reply
    • Cynthia Erlandson

      I am honored, jd, that you would include my poems in your journal, and that you would consider them an aid to your prayers. As I said above to Daniel, The Book of Common Prayer has been an immensely valuable aid to my prayers and my poetry. It has helped me learn to speak to Him along with countless generations who have refined and developed their prayers for individuals to use, and for the Church as a whole to pray together.

      Reply
  10. Stephen Binns

    Lovely, Cynthia. I’m sure I’m not alone in having this as a favorite rhyme: “quiverous / deliver us.”

    If memory serves, this is not the first time you’ve brought a quote from the Book of Common Prayer into your poetic context and thus created a shiver of resonance: your beautiful verse with its own stately beauty.

    Reply
    • Cynthia Erlandson

      You have a good memory, Stephen; I have often used quotes from the BCP’s superb collection of poetic language. As you know, poets don’t write alone; we build on what has gone before. Thank you very much; I’m very grateful for your generous comments.

      Reply
  11. James A. Tweedie

    Cynthia,

    Your closing couplets are, by themselves, both inspiring and encouraging. Thank you for your distillation of prayerful piety for our day, and your invitation for us to join you in offering our own thoughts and minds to God as a living sacrifice.

    Reply
    • Cynthia Erlandson

      You are, of course, very welcome, Pastor Tweedie. And thank you for your thoughtful comment. Your poetry is inspiring, as well.

      Reply

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