Hello and welcome to the Daily Poem. I'm Heidi White, and today is Monday, March 7th.

Today I'm going to read for you a poem by Irish poet George William Russell. He preferred to be known by the initials A.E. He was born in 1867, and he lived until 1935. He was an Irish writer, an editor, a critic, a poet, a painter,

and an Irish nationalist. He was part of the same literary and political circles as James Joyce

and William Butler Yates. He's a little bit lesser known, although still a good poet in his own right.

He actually worked with James Joyce on several writing projects.

And today's poem is called Forgiveness, and this is how it goes.

At dusk, the window panes grew gray.

The wet world vanished in the gloom. The dim and silver end of day scarce glimmered through the little room. And all my sins were told. I said such things to her who knew not sin. The sharp ache throbbing in my head, the fever running high within. I touched with

pain, her purity, sins darker sense I could not bring. My soul was black as night to me. To her,

I was a wounded thing. I needed love no words could say.

She drew me softly nigh her chair,

my head upon her knees to lay,

with cool hands that caressed my hair.

She sat with hands as if to bless

and looked with grave, ethereal eyes, insouled by ancient quietness,

a gentle priestess of the wise.

I chose this poem because I have been thinking about forgiveness lately, about the connection between repentance and personal

responsibility and accountability and forgiveness. I've been thinking about this in a personal sense

and also in a more universal sense, especially on a global sense.

We're in such an intense time in human history,

watching things play out on a global scale.

And what is the harmony between accountability and personal responsibility and also forgiveness?

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