Paul Kingsnorth - The Wake

is there no night

lysten to me i is specan lysten we feoht agan one yeoc only to cepe our selfs under another this god does not cnaw me how can he sae i is yfel can he see my heorte

she saes none can see thy heorte

then how can he sae i is yfel

he can not sae this

what man can stand ofer me what man

no man

is i yfel wif

thu is not yfel my husbond

this is what i belyf i scit on all bocs those who trust in them they is in a gaol of dust and light light from sum other scor

dust and light she saes

the crist can not harm me

no

the cyng can not harm me

no

none can harm me

none

i is not yfel

no

thu is a good wif to me

where now is the bans

where now

it was that night i had the first sight of him yes i see it now that night when all was first tacan from me though i did not cnaw then how micel mor wolde be lost. ah for micel time it had been cuman sum thing had been locan for me sum thing had been growan had been callan from the deorcness and when i locs baec now all is clere. that night i seen all things end in a great storm and from this storm cum a man and the man saes thu cnawan me buccmaster thu cnawan me and this man he was foul to see. from his mouth there cum fronds lic the sceots of blosms they wafs as he specs there is no haer upon his heafod but the hide is thicce and craccd cuman away in places and his eages is blaec lic night on the water

in his left hand there is a hamor the hamor of a smith the hamor of the great smith what lifs in the eald beorgs and in his right hand there is a heafodpanne the heafodpanne of a wifman and it is all ofer with gold and stans and cut in two lic it is a cyngs cuppe for wine or mead and the smith through his rottin mouth he specs to me again and he saes thu cnawan me

and i do cnaw him and he specs again name me but i thincs that if i name him sum thing will cum then that will nefer go and so i specs not and he saes again buccmaster of holland name me. but that night i does not name him not that night and from this dream i waeccen and it is before the daegs beginnan and i stands and i walcs to my feld of flax what is now a feld of weods and abuf the treows the haerfest mona is great and yeolo and the ule is callan and all else is still. but in me is his tunge what is hierde abuf the ule and the sound of my breathan and it nefer stops all that night and it saes name me name me name me

there is no one lifan in angland now has not seen all they cnawan tacan from them. there is no man in angland in any part from mierce to northanhymbre to efen us the free socmen of holland has not seen efry thing they cnawan tacan and none of this in their grip. lic the wind what brings down the waet before haerfest there was naht we colde do to stand in the way of such a slege naht but to go out after with sicols and loc at our broc felds and tac what straw and seed we colde from the whole wide strip of broc lengths cut at the ground by what was called down from the heofon and us not gifen to cnaw why in this lif and it colde be not efer

this i cnawan now and so does efry other man in angland. that night when i seen him for the first time that daeg when i lost all my men to the folc of the boc that daeg i felt what i was losan strong i felt what fugol and star had brought to me. there was mor to lose yes i is cuman to this i wolde lose efry thing soon angland wolde lose efry thing and though we feoht to cepe it we did not cepe it though if men had lystened to me done what i had spacan done lic i saed then we colde haf cept it but men is esols and dumb and does not lysten to the wise

my grandfather wolde sae men does not lysten to the wise for what the wise has to sae is not what they wants to hiere for what they wants to hiere is that their lifs is right as they is and that they is good folc and does not need to do naht. and most times saes my grandfather this is not the triewth most men is dumb and they lifs lic hunds and they does not see beyond their hus into the night or efen the daeg they does not hiere the fenn specan to them they does not see the eald gods under the mere they is blithe in their hus fuccan and drinccan while all in the wilde world falls away. those who is wise he saed those who is wise moste lead men moste show them what they can not see lic the swine moste lead us to the trufa or the hund to the hara

well there was no men for me to lead then and for many daegs i done naht though it now brings sceomu to thinc of this but i done naht for i colde not see why. i had no men to saw the winter waet and no men to spread the scit on the felds for winter and no men to cum with me to the fenn for secg for thaeccan the hus for when the cold months cum. it seemed to me then that there was naht to do but drinc ealu and eat what odelyn was macan eat hunig cicels and pies and loafs and sitt in the hus stay warm stay in with my wif and my grandfathers sweord what sum times i wolde tac from the beam and scine and hold while i was sitttan for out in the world there was naht for me all was agan me. and for many daegs this was my world and odelyn and annis they both cared for me but naht was saed for this was my hus and they both cnawan what the world had done to me and fed me while i was in my seat at the fyr

then after sum daegs the preost cum. i cnawan it from ecceard for he cum to my hus to tell me for he felt sceomu for what he had done and all he had tacan from me. the daeg was high with the sunne but i was in the hus in deorc and smoc with odelyn and ecceard he cum in then and seen me in my seat by the fyr with my ealu and he locs at me lic this is his worc

buccmaster of holland he saes odelyn wif i greets thu well in thy great hus i has cum to sae that eadweard preost of bacstune circe is cum to the ham and that thu sceolde cum hiere him spec

well i laughs at this i laughs with ealu still in my mouth and half of it gan on to the fyr

buccmaster saes ecceard before thu specs i cnawan thy thoughts on preosts of course and synnful thoughts they is and thu will be sorry for them after thy daegs here is done but this preost he brings word not from the crist but from the fyrd

of course odelyn hearan this had to go she wolde not stay in the hus if there was word of her sons so she wolde go to the ham with ecceard and i moste go also for i wolde not haf ecceard alone with my wifman on the grene paths around these parts things was saed about him and all cnawan what they was

down in the ham we seen the preost at the gathran place at the cros roads with folc all around him. most was wifmen with so many men gan to the fyrd but hwit haerd ealdors was there also and yonge cildren and those lic ecceard and me who was great men in the ham men of parts. the preost is in all his fuccan gold and he has out his altar of wud what he tacs to all the lytel hams where he lies to the folcs and he has his great boc on it what is all gold and in sum ingenga tunge the better to awe the dumb folc. he sees us cum then and he locs at me lic i sceolde not be there for this eadweard he is an eald man and cnawan my grandfather at the end of his daegs and cnawan as all did his thoughts on the crist

eadweard preost saes ecceard eadweard preost thu is well cum here in the name of the crist and his holy sancts and we bids their gladness on the poor folcs of our ham. eadweard of bacstune tell us what word is thu bringan from angland

well saes eadweard in his deop tunge i has telt these folc as thu can see there is gladness now in their heortes by the crists mildheortness but i will tell it again for none is too late to cum in to the word of god. he is locan at me then i sceolde beat him but i is not an esol he is the preost

i brings tidans from eorfic saes eadweard preost i brings word of a great sige what has been gifen to harald cyng of angland through the hand of thy great triewe god these three daegs past. harald of the denes who is called landwaster who cum here with a thousand long scips to cwell angland has himself been cwelled through the will of the crist by the fyrd of our harald cyng. it is saed that our cyng gan north cwiccor than any man efer has done and he cum upon hardrada who is called landwaster near eorfic. this great dene had cwelled the fyrd of the eorls of the north sum daegs before and was thincan to tac eorfic and then tac angland but our harald cyng cum upon him when the denes was eatan and fuccan and drincan lic heathens will do who has not the triewe light of the crist upon them or within them. he was loccan at me then again i wolde beat him if there was any triewth but always there is mens laws stoppan triewth