Quatrain 66
Quatrain 66 of 75
“So, while the Vessels one by one were speaking,
One spied the little Crescent all were seeking:
And then they jogg'd each other, "Brother! Brother!
Hark to the Porter's Shoulder-knot a-creaking!"”
Reflection · Winter
The little Crescent all were seeking — in winter this crescent is the thin light at the edge of the longest darkness, the first promise of the year's returning. The vessels in the potter's shop have been waiting through the long dark, speaking their various arguments, and one of them finally sees it.
Hark to the Porter's Shoulder-knot a-creaking! — the juice is coming. Winter's juice, the compressed and mature and honest juice of all that the year has been. Brother! Brother! — when the crescent appears, the jogging of vessel against vessel is the warm contact of beings who have survived the dark together. We are still here. The Porter is coming.