One of the wonderful things about the course I am doing is the people who are on it with me. One of them, the lovely Rosy, gave me this extract a couple of weeks ago and I have thought about the imagery in it ever since. It is taken from an Anglo Saxon poem called “The Ascension”

It is widely known that the King will come,
The Lord of might, leaping upon the mountains.
He shall redeem the World by that noble leaping.
It was the first leap when our Lord descended to the spotless Virgin…
It was the second leap when the babe was born,
The Glory of all glories in the guise of a child.
It was the third leap when the Lord of Heaven, the Father, the Comforter, mounted the Cross,
It was the fourth leap when he left the tree
And turned to the sepulchre, fast in the tomb.
It was the fifth leap when he harrowed hell with bitter torment and bound her king
Where he still lies fettered, fast in sin.
It was the sixth leap when our Lord in triumph ascended on high to his former home.
In that holy hour the Angel host
Grew blithe with rapture and blissful joy
Beholding the Lord of Glory, the Leader of the Saints,
Came eternal joy from the Triumph of their Prince.

Thank you Rosy.