Song of Creation

In 1225 the infirm St. Francis, living in a hut in a church garden, wrote this poem in which he looks on the face of creation and blesses it in its totality. Our text is a translation of the poem by Matthew Arnold. We have illuminated each line with paintings -- ""Praised be my Lord for our brother the Wind"" is accompanied by a Corot painting of trees bent before a gale, and also an illustration by Frank Pape in which a dove is borne joyously upward. In this manner two faces of wind are shown, and the words made more vividly manifest.