Poetry · Chapter
O Wind of God explained
A prayerful poem invoking the Wind of God to stir spiritual renewal through the seasons—spring's awakening, summer's fullness, autumn's harvest, and winter's purifying cold—trusting that all life is sustained by divine breath.
What happens
A prayerful poem invoking the Wind of God to stir spiritual renewal through the seasons—spring's awakening, summer's fullness, autumn's harvest, and winter's purifying cold—trusting that all life is sustained by divine breath.
Themes in this chapter
Nature as Divine Revelation
The wind, seasons, flowers, and fruit are metaphors for God's work in the soul.
Suffering and Purification
Winter and icy storms are welcomed as agents that kill 'cankerworms' and refine the spirit.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“O wind of God, that blowest in the mind, Blow, blow and wake the gentle spring in me”
Divine breath, stir my inner life to new growth and awakening.
The speaker asks God to initiate spiritual renewal.
“Blow, fill my upper air with icy storms; Breathe cold, O wind of God, and kill my cankerworms.”
Send harsh trials to purge my hidden faults and purify me.
Winter's cold is embraced as a means of cleansing and transformation.