St. Valentine's Day
To-day, all day, I rode upon the down,
With hounds and horsemen, a brave company
On this side in its glory lay the sea,
On that Sussex weald, a sea of brown.
The wind was light, and brightly the sun shone,
And still we gallop'd on from gorse to gorse:
An once, when check'd, a thrush sang, and my horse
Prick'd his quick ears as to a sound unknown.
I knew the Spring was come. I knew it even
Better than all by this, that through my chase
In bush and stone and hill and sea and heaven
I seem'd to see and follow still your face.
Your face my quarry was. For it I rode,
My horse a thing of wings, myself a god.
Not stunning poetry, but quite pleasing nonetheless.
Interesting that several places claim to have St. Valentine's remains:
1. Blessed St. John's Duns Scotus, Glasgow.
2. Whitefriar Street Church, Dublin.
3. Saint Praxedes, Rome.
This duplication is quite possible when one considers that the Catholic Encylopaedia contains references to three different Valentines who were canonized. There is not much chance that each of these corresponds to each of the separate Saints, given the amount of outright forgery surrounding historical remains, as well as the custom of dividing up legitimate ones between several sites. As to which sites have remains from the St. Valentine around which the celebration of love is centered, nobody knows, but ceremonies and pilgrimages are made to each of these places by those in love, and those in search of it.
"A rose is a cactus with a good education." -- Uncle Tim
