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Favorite Poems: St. John of the Cross,
Delmore Schwartz, Thomas Merton
By Warren Hershberger
January 26, 2004
When I was in college in the 1970s, I read many poems that
deeply affected my life. I was raised in an Apostolic church, but was just
coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus in my twenties.
“Soneto a Cristo Crucificado,” which I read when I was taking
Spanish and was reading about the Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross, speaks
to me of the deep love that Jesus has already shown for me and for all of us.
The second, “Do Others Speak of Me Mockingly, Maliciously?,”
speaks to me with honesty of insecurities and the human condition.
I have added the last poem, “Cana” by Thomas Merton at the
end of the other two poems. You will understand why.
Soneto a Cristo Crucificado
- anonimo
No me mueve, mi Dios, para quererte
el cielo que me tienes prometido;
ni me mueve el infierno tan temido
para dejar por eso de ofenderte.
Tu me mueves, Senor, mueveme el verte
clavado en una cruz y escarnecido;
mueveme ver tu cuerpo tan herido;
muevenme tus afrentas y tu muerte.
Mueveme, en fin, tu amor y en tal manera
que aunque no hubiera cielo, yo te amara,
y aunque no hubiera infierno, te temiera.
No tienes que me dar porque te quiera,
pues aunque cuanto espero no esparara,
lo mismo que te quiero te quisiera.
To the Crucified Christ
- Anonymous
(My personal translation. A sonnet, not in sonnet form in
translation}
Heaven, which is Your promise to me,
Does not move me, God, to love You.
Nor does the fear of hell keep me
from offending You.
You, Lord, are what moves me.
The sight of You hammered on a cross
and humiliated,
The sight of Your body with so many wounds,
The insults and death you suffered move me.
The love You showed moves me so much
That even were there no heaven,
I would love you
And were hell a lie, I would fear You.
You need give me no reason
for loving You
Because even if there were no hope
of what I hope for so much
I would still love You the same as I do now.
Do Others Speak of Me Mockingly, Maliciously?
-
Delmore Schwartz
“As in water face answereth face,
so the heart of man to man.”
Proverbs 27:19
Do they whisper behind my back? Do they speak
Of my clumsiness? Do they laugh at me,
Mimicking my gestures, retailing my shame?
I'll whirl about, denounce them, saying
That they are shameless, they are treacherous
No more my friends, nor will I once again
Never, amid a thousand meetings in the street,
Recognize their faces, take their hands,
Not for our common love or old time's sake:
They whispered behind my back,
they mimicked me.
I know the reason why, I too have done this,
Cruel for wit's sake, behind my dear friend’s back,
And to amuse betrayed his private love,
His nervous shame, her habit, and their weaknesses;
I have mimicked them, I have been treacherous,
For wit's sake, to amuse, because their being weighed
too grossly for a time, to be superior,
to flatter the listener by this, the intimate,
Betraying the intimate, but for the intimate,
To free myself of friendship’s necessity,
Fearing from time to time that they would hear,
Denounce me and reject me, say once for all
That they would never meet me, take my hands
Speaking for old time’s sake and our common love.
What an unheard-of thing it is, in fine,
To love another and equally be loved!
What sadness and what joy! How cruel it is
That pride and wit distort the heart of man,
How vain, how sad, what cruelty, what need,
For this is true and sad, that I need them
And they need me. What can we do?
We need
Each other's clumsiness, each other’s wit, I cannot
Turn away. We know our clumsiness,
our weakness, our necessities. We cannot
Forget our pride, our faces, our common love.
Cana
- Thomas Merton
“This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee.”
Once when our eyes were clean as noon, our rooms
Filled with the joy of Cana’s feast:
For Jesus came, and His disciples, and His mother,
And after them the singers,
And some men with violins.
Once when our minds were Galilees,
And clean as skies our faces,
Our simple rooms were charmed with sun.
Our thoughts went in and out in whiter coats
than God's disciples’,
In Cana's crowded rooms, at Cana’s tables.
Nor did we seem to fear the wine would fail:
For ready, in a row, to fill with water and a miracle,
We saw our earthen vessels, waiting empty.
What wine these humble waterjars foretell!
Wine for the ones who, bended to the dirty earth,
Have feared, since lovely Eden, the sun’s fire,
Yet hardly mumble, in their dusty mouths, one prayer.
Wine for old Adam, digging in the briars!
ninetyandnine.com
Ó
2004, Warren Hershberger
---------
Warren Hershberger does his best to do justly, love mercy and walk
humbly with God in his life in Akron, Ohio. He teaches math and reading in
public school on week days. Although he is “young at heart,” sometimes he craves
conversation with human beings who are older than eleven years old.
Calling All Poets
Do you possess the soul of
a poet and feel you can no longer keep it disguised? Do you have a favorite poem
that really nails your feelings, but you can't find anyone to appreciate it with
you?
Here's your chance to
express yourself!
Introducing ibid.,
the new monthly poetry forum on 90&9.com.
ibidem, adv, {L}: in the same place*
We won’t be able to publish
everything submitted, but want to give you a chance to share your ministry and
talent with others.
You'll find this monthly
feature in the same place where you've discovered other cutting edge, culturally
relevant content—90&9.com!
Send us your favorite poems
and tell us in 50-100 words what they mean to you (please provide proper
documentation). Or, you may send us your original verse. Be sure to provide the
titles of the poems and any necessary background information. Send all
submissions to
editor@ninetyandnine.com.
Look for ibid. to
appear monthly.
*Merriam Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary 10th Edition 1993 Merriam-Webster Inc.,
Springfield, Massachusetts
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