the holy night

'To be a poet in a destitute time means: to attend, singing, to the trace of the fugitive gods. This is why the poet in the time of the world's night utters the holy. This is why . . . the world's night is the holy night.'

'Martin Heidegger, What Are Poets For', from Poetry, Language, Thought, translated by Albert Hofstadter, 1971.