Welkins is a term that is not very common in modern English, but it has been used in the past to refer to the sky or heavens. The word welkin comes from the Old English word “wolcen,” which means cloud or mist. In Middle English and early modern English, welkin was often used to describe the celestial sphere or the expanse of the sky. It was also used in literary works to evoke a sense of grandeur or awe, particularly when describing the beauty of the night sky.
In literature, welkin is often used as a poetic synonym for heaven or the afterlife. For example, in John Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Lost,” he describes the fall of Satan from “the highth of this great Argument” down to “the infernal Pit” as “from welkin downward.” Similarly, in William Wordsworth’s poem “Composed upon Westminster Bridge,” he describes the city of London as “bright and glittering in the smokeless air” under “a calm so deep,” as if “the very houses seem asleep” in “the beauty of the morning; silent, bare, / Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie / Open unto the fields, and to the sky.”
Overall, welkin is a word that has fallen out of use in modern English, but it continues to have a place in poetic and literary expressions. It remains a symbol of the vastness and beauty of the natural world and the mysteries of the divine.