Your weekly slice of Poetry

This week I have selected three poems that are theologically rich in different ways. Poems like these can be particularly enjoyable, as they are often dense with meaning and insightful upon multiple readings.

Don't feel pressured to read and understand all of these in one sitting, not unless you have a few hours at your immediate disposal. Read one, put it down, and pick it up again sometime later in the week. Or read them all once through now and study them individually later. But most of all, do whatever's necessary for you to enjoy them thoroughly.

Aaron

George Herbert (1593—1633)

The first thing you may notice with this poem is that each five-line stanza has something of a diamond shape to it. This is because the lines increase in length toward the center, and then decrease toward the end. If we were to count the number of feet in each line (you can essentially do this by counting the number of stressed syllables), it would read 3-4-5-4-3. This almost has the feel of a chiasm! What fun it is to find structures like these written so long ago.

The next thing you'll notice is that each of the five lines in each stanza end with the same respective words: "head," "breast," "dead," "rest," and "drest." Each stanza provides further development on the themes associated with these words.

In sum, we have a structurally beautiful poem that explores the imagery and significance of Aaron, the first High Priest of the Old Testament.

Holy Sonnet XI (Spit in my face)

John Donne (1572-1631)

John Donne wrote a collection of nineteen sonnets called "Holy Sonnets." All of these are incredibly rich in Biblical imagery and Reformed doctrine. Donne is famous for his use of provocative words and surprising comparisons to construct a new perspective on some aspect of the Christian life.

This sonnet stands as a shining example of this style. Right out of the gate you are greeted with spit, a beating, and a crucifixion. There is nothing gentle about what he is saying, or what it would mean if you were to say those same things. Do you dare to admit what he does?

As is common with the sonnet form, the poem is split between the first eight lines (the octet) and the final six lines (the sestet). As you read through the second, note how the focus shifts to the love of Christ. The poem then ends with one of the most bewildering theological connections, one that you would only expect to find in a dense commentary on Genesis. This poem is my go-to example for how poetry can be as rich and theologically mature as commentaries and devotionals.

Thanksgiving

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

I found this poem when searching for Thanksgiving poems last week. It was immediately clear that I needed a little more time to understand it before sharing it. This poem is a bit longer, written in an unrhymed iambic pentameter (Blank Verse). I noticed that it took a few readings with focused attention to get the overall picture clear in my head.

This poem would do very well being read out loud. (Longfellow being a "Fireside Poet," I picture this one being read to the whole family on a frosty evening.) It is full of beautiful imagery of Creation singing praise to its Maker. It develops to show how man is inspired by Nature to offer his own worship to God, ending with a reflection on our own habits of praise.

My favorite lines echo back to Genesis as it describes the ocean, how it:

...sent forth a voice
Of awful adoration to the spirit
That, wrapt in darkness, moved upon its face.

The Lion Lamb

Abram Newcomer

This poem was published to my site this last week. I began working on it over the summer based on an idea that I had the previous year. It is written in iambic tetrameter, with two stanzas of six lines each. The six line stanza (sestet) has an interesting feel to it which I enjoyed discovering while writing. This is the same form used in Byron's "She Walks in Beauty."

This poem has something of a "question and answer" arc to it, bringing close together the paradoxical reality that Christ is both Lamb and Lion (i.e. the Lion Lamb). It has an intended focus on how it is that Christ can deliver us from temptation, sin, and the lions that would seek to devour us.

I hope these poems find you well, and that they will provide you with meat to chew on through this week and throughout your life.