Category Archives: Poetry

I continue here with Christina Rossetti’s The Face of the Deep: A Devotional Commentary on the Apocalypse (London: SPCK, 1892). The other entries are found in the Poetry category in the right column. ❧ 3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which areContinue reading “The Face of the Deep (1.3)”

I That is no country for old men. The young In one another’s arms, birds in the trees —Those dying generations—at their song, The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas, Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long Whatever is begotten, born, and dies. Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect. II AnContinue reading “Sailing to Byzantium”

As foretold in days of yore, here is the beginning of a lengthy serialized presentation of Christina Georgina Rossetti’s The Face of the Deep: A Devotional Commentary on the Apocalypse. The reader is guaranteed to gain from this: a.) excellent poetry; b.) the devotional commentary of a woman who, in the words of her brother,Continue reading “The Face of the Deep (1.1-2)”

I would approach You, Lord, but don’t know how.Whatever stepping stones I once discerned(Cool in the footloose morning, oh how they burned!)Are well below my touching, lost to me now.This layered-over life does not allowFor boyish ease forever, I have learned.And so this crust of soil must now be turned;The shining task will need aContinue reading “Sonnets to The Unseen”

If thou canst dive, bring up pearls. If thou canst not dive, collect amber. Though I fail to identify Paradisiacal “bdellium,” I still may hope to search out beauties of the “onyx stone.” A dear saint—I speak under correction of the Judgment of the Great Day, yet think not then to have my word corrected—thisContinue reading “The Face of the Deep”

לו  כָּל עֶרֶב מוֹצִיא אֱלהִים אֶת סְחוֹרוֹתָיו הַמַּבְרִיקוֹת מֵחַלּוֹן הָרַאֲוָה מַעֲשֵׂי מֶרְכָּבָה, לוּחוֹת בְּרִית, פְּנִינִים יָפוֹת צְלָבִים וּפַעֲמוֹנִים זוֹהֲרִים וּמַחֲזִיר אוֹתָם לְתוֹך אַרְגָּזִים אֲפֵלִים בִּפְנִים וְסוֹגֵר אֶת הַתְּרִיס: “שׁוּב “לא בָּא אַף נָבִיא אֶחָד לִקנוֹת 36 Every night God takes his glittering merchandise out of his showcase— holy chariots, tables of law, fancy beads, crossesContinue reading “More Yehuda Amichai”

he will whet his sword In the muted wood,I walked alonetill screaming angelsmoved like a knifeacross my eyes. Lord, in the hutsand in the mud your angelsscreamed to the heavensand the sheltered woodwas quiet no longer. In the night I waitedtorn in my sleepseeing the sky unfolded,feeling the earth unhinged:and then I knew, my Lord,andContinue reading “Ralph Toledano: The Apocrypha of Limbo”

אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ, יְרוּשָׁלַיִםיִשָּׁכַח דָּמִיאֶגַּע בְּמִצְחֵךְ, אֶשְׁכַּח אֶת שֶׁלִּייִתְחַלֵּף קוֹלִיבַּפַּעַם הַשְּׁנִיָּה וְהָאַחֲרוֹנָהלְקוֹל נוֹרָא םִן הַקּוֹלוֹתאוֹ לְאֵלֶם If I forget thee, Jerusalem,Let my blood be forgotten.I shall touch your forehead,Forget my own,My voice changeFor the second and last timeTo the most terrible of voices —Or silence

And there was no more Sea.VOICES from above and from beneath,  Voices of creation near and far,Voices out of life and out of death,    Out of measureless space,  Sun, moon, star,    In oneness of contentment offering praise. Heaven and earth and sea jubilant,  Jubilant all things that dwell therein ;Filled to fullest overflow they chant,    Still roll onward, swell,  Still begin    Never flaggingContinue reading “And there was no more Sea.”