… These people know me

only in the thin hymns of

the mind, in the arid sermons

and prayers. I am the live God,

nailed fast to the old tree

of a nation by its unreal

tears. I thirst, I thirst

for the spring water. Draw it up

for me from your heart’s well and I will change

it to wine upon your unkissed lips.

R.S. Thomas (1913-2000), Ann Griffiths (1776-1805) .