He is risen!

[elisi]

Wishing a happy and joyous (if a little belated) Easter to all my fellow Christians out there! :)

And, since I've been told that April is poetry month, I bring you 'Seven Stanzas at Easter' by John Updike:


Seven Stanzas at Easter


By John Updike

Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His Flesh: ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that — pierced — died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.

The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.

And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck's quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.

Comments

[deird1]

He is risen indeed.


:)

[elisi]

Alleluia! :)

[jerusha]

I'd never seen this poem before, but I loved it. Thanks for posting it.

[elisi]

I came across it on Andrew Sullivan's blog and fell in love. Thought others might enjoy it too. :)

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

He is risen indeed!

Lovely poem; haven't seen that one before. I'll have to forward it around!

[elisi]

Amen!

And it's rare to find poems that are both theologically astute and also touching. I've got people to send it to too. :)

[2maggie2.livejournal.com]

He is risen indeed!

Wonderful poem. It's been an amazing Triduum for me, back in a parish that remembers the pure joy of Easter.

[elisi]

I, too, had a lovely Triduum, except for not being able to go to the Vigil (three children aged 10 & under...). But I do love Easter very much - it is, quite literally, the greatest drama ever!

[the-royal-anna.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for sharing the poem. It's beautiful, and challenging, too. It's such a thought-provoking and powerful piece. My Easter is spent mostly in the stupor of the half-conscious, due to our annual youth club sleepover, so a moment of clarity like this was exactly what was needed, and very welcome.

I hope you had a happy Easter and you are all enjoying the holiday! I got as far as looking at train fares in your direction, but I think I need to be much more organised and book further in advance! When did trains get so expensive?

[elisi]

Thank you so much for sharing the poem. It's beautiful, and challenging, too. It's such a thought-provoking and powerful piece.
I'd never seen it before either, but felt that I really needed to share it with others - especially since I didn't have time to write anything myself.

My Easter is spent mostly in the stupor of the half-conscious, due to our annual youth club sleepover
Goodness you are brave! We had a very nice Easter, except it got highjacked by chocolate somewhat...

I got as far as looking at train fares in your direction, but I think I need to be much more organised and book further in advance! When did trains get so expensive?
I don't know, but unless you book like 3 months in advance it's *horribly* expensive. Maybe we can sort something out for the summer? The girls were actually asking after you the other day! :)