‘What Is There In All Creation…?’

One evening when it was warm I took a walk to the shops. It was still daylight and the atmospheric conditions were good. The lighting was that which accompanies the setting of the sun. However, it wasn’t the setting sun that caught my senses, glorious as it may have been, but the quality of the ambient light. It was as if I was looking through a veil.

As I walked home, I found myself thinking about the first line to a Shakespeare sonnet: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (sonnet 18). Much of my preoccupation at the time concerned the sky – particularly writing about it. Within 24 to 48 hours I had drafted three poems about the sky. The feel of the first line of sonnet 18 lead me to write my first line: What is there in all creation…?

The ‘What Is There In All Creation…?’ poem is written in four verses, each verse with an ABBA rhyming form. That is: line 1 rhymes with line 4 and line 2 rhymes with line 3. At the time of composing the poem, I had no knowledge of any other poem written in this style. This knowledge came later.

‘What Is There In All Creation…?

What is there in all creation that can compare to the sky?

She, at times, can be quite calm as well as electrifying

Also, sometimes, conveys sadness and happiness — quite confusing

This is because she is pure and 3 times very high…’

In my videobook, the music that accompanies this poem is J. S. Bach’s Prelude No. 1 from his Well-Tempered Clavier, Book One.

Here is a video clip from the poem: What Is There In All Creation…? (verse 1)

For those willing to go further, the music that concludes the video is the Ave Maria by Gounod which is based on the Prelude.