Monthly Archives: September 2011

Go, go, you’re bit (by the Swiftian wit).

The Last Judgement by Jean Cousin  (c. 1522–1595)

Quick post of some visionary wit from Jonathan Swift (1667 -1745), best known as the author of  Gulliver’s Travels.

 

The Day of Judgement

 

With a whirl of thought oppressed,

I sunk from reverie to rest.

A horrid vision seized my head,

I saw the graves give up their dead!

Jove, armed with terrors, bursts the skies,

And thunder roars and lightning flies!

Amazed, confused, its fate unknown,

The world stands trembling at his throne!

While each pale sinner hangs his head,

Jove, nodding, shook the heavens, and said:

‘Offending race of human kind,

By nature, reason, learning, blind;

You who, through frailty, stepped aside;

And you who never fell—through pride:

You who in different sects have shammed,

And come to see each other damned;

(So some folks told you, but they knew

No more of Jove’s designs than you)

The world’s mad business now is o’er,

And I resent these pranks no more.

I to such blockheads set my wit!

I damn such fools!

—Go, go, you’re bit’

A Psalm of Roxy

Can pop music reach empyrean heights
and move the fallen human soul toward God?

Most often, when pop music tries to do this the results are abysmal. Yet, once in a while, a rock’n’roll song brings heaven down into our vale of tears (or launches us toward the throne of the Creator). Depending on one’s personal taste in music, this can be very subjective, I know. One man’s high art is another’s velvet painting . . .

I bring you two versions of Psalm by the 70’s glam-rock band Roxy Music.
This song has always intrigued me.

First the original studio version from the album Stranded (1973).  It builds slowly, the rhythm becoming more insistent, with the London Welsh Male Choir singing as the song crescendos to its finish. The rhythm of this composition has always made me think of those New Orleans jazz funerals (go to 5-minute mark for the rhythm) or Creole-Indian Mardi-Gras parade struts: a sort of stuttering syncopated marching-band beat on the snare, much like Dr. John’s version of Junco Partner.

I have sometimes wondered whether Ferry was affecting the persona of a Bible-believer in this song for purposes of  irony or mockery. But after pondering the lyrics to many of his other songs [like Triptych or In Every Dreamhome a Heartache] I get the sense that  this is a straightforward heartfelt song.  I guess only Bryan Ferry and the Lord  know for sure.

Try on your love / like a new dress
The fit and the cut / your friends to impress
Try on your smile, square on your face
Showing affection should be no disgrace

Try out your God / hope He will send
Kindness from strangers on whom you depend
Try on His coat; a mantle most fine
Myriad colours: his harmony-thine

Believe in me once seemed a good line
Now belief in Jesus is faith more sublime
Head in the clouds, but I can’t see the Lord
Short of perfection . . . I’ll try to be good.

I’ll stand at His gate / I’ll wait for His sign
Then I’ll walk in His garden when it’s my time
Drink from His cup . . . hush now, don’t you cry
His quiet waters will never never run dry
Nearing death’s vale; he’s here by my side
He leads me to paradise: a mountain so high, high, high high high…

(Instrumental)

Don’t be afraid. Just treasure His word
Singing His praises; I know that I’ll be heard
He’s going to take you by the hand.
He’s gonna make you feel so good
Open up your eyes—and then you’ll see all that you should
Forget all your troubles; you will feel no pain

He’s all that you need. He’s our everything
When I’m feeling all at sea, and deliverance is that distant shore
I will not be worried. Someday His house will be my home
For ever more . . .  for ever more . . .   for ever more . . .    for ever more

For ever more . . .

Compare this track to the live version below. Bryan Ferry enunciates every word clearly; the band members play with totally relaxed precision. The song is all about God.  Wow.  There is not much Rock’n’Roll that reaches these heights […a mountain so high, high, high] and this is why Roxy Music is my all-time favorite band.

Is this at the level of liturgical chanting and holy high art? Definitely not. In fact the first few lines introduce an element of  campy glam-fashion superficiality that is at odds with the rest of the lyrics.

A beautiful song, and to me, truly heavenly Rock’n’Roll.

This song is poetry.

A Grazing Mace

Sometimes we want life to shower blessings on us like rain. We think it is all about having our best life now. Instead,  life transforms into a cudgel, clubbing us down and bashing our selfish dreams into pieces; a grazing mace, if you will…

The author of Amazing Grace was a slave trader before his conversion.  He later became an Anglican priest. His name was John Newton and he was friends  with William Cowper.   Both wrote hymns.

I do not know the melody to this untitled hymn.  I read the lyrics as poetry:

By John Newton  (1725-1807)

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

And now one from his old friend William Cowper (1731-1800):

Light Shining out of Darkness

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the LORD by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev’ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow’r.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
GOD is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

Enjoy these poems of Truth and Reason.

Famous Amos on 9-11

The more I hear about 9-11, the more important it is to talk about it.

Especially to young people and children.

In the book of the Hebrew prophet Amos  there are some pertinent passages.  I expect pastors will remind me that a text without a context is a pretext.
I am not trying to proof-text here. This is a poetry blog after all, so give me a break. I am only citing passages from the prophets that I personally and poetically associate with the attacks of 2001.

There are several  parts of Amos that come to mind as we recall September 11:

Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?
shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?  

[Amos 3:6 KJV]

This verse is extremely challenging. In spite of the flag-waving and superficial references to Faith that abounded in the months after the attacks, I heard garbled and inconsistent explanations from many believers. The 9-11 coverup conspiracists had a more coherent explanation than many supposed Christians. I heard a lot of this: evil and the devil instigated the attacks and it is a great blow to all that is good and right about our country, etc.  So God was wishing and hoping that the 19 jihadists would not carry out their plan? The Good Shepherd  was trying His best to prevent evil from occurring that day? No way.  God is sovereign and omnipotent. He allowed their plan (a well – rehearsed and well-executed plan) to succeed. At every check point they passed, God was Sovereign, ruling and reigning over this universe. He purposed that their plan should unfold as it did. That is my take on the above passage.

I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. 

Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

[Amos 4:11-12 KJV]

In this passage I take “Israel” as an archetypal name for the entire human race, as well as referring to any specific nation.  In other words, using some poetic license, we can substitute “Humanity” or “NYC”  or “USA”  for the word “Israel” in the passage. I think about how quickly the religious fervor and empty jingoism died down – and it was back to Babylonian business as usual…

Now comes one of the most cryptic parts of Amos for me.

And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. And when one’s relative, the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”;  and he shall say, “Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

For behold, the Lord commands,  and the great house shall be struck down into fragments,  and the little house into bits.  

[ Amos 6:9-11 ESV]

I read this like an absurdist Hebrew Zen koan.  It is one of the most amazing passages in the Prophets.  It is horrifying and hilarious at once. You meditate on it and go insane or reach satori. People are searching for bodies in the rubble [think NYC, think Fukushima, think any recent serious earthquake or disaster] and when asked if there are more corpses to remove, the  one inside shouts back  “no – none.”  The questioner rebukes him for shouting “none” :

“Shhhh! Don’t mention God’s name.”

So what IS God’s name for all the enlightened atheists, for the PC anti-Christians, what is God’s name for all who wring their hands over cataclysms but persist in their unbelief?

God’s name is “NONE”.    It’s brilliant.   It speaks to both sides of the culture wars at once.

 

Translation by Roy Fuller (1912 – 1991)

Now that the barbarians have got as far as Picra,
And all the new music is written in the twelve tone scale,
And I am anyway approaching my fortieth birthday,
I will dissemble no longer.

I will stop expressing my belief in the rosy
Future of man, and accept the evidence
Of a couple of wretched wars and innumerable
Abortive revolutions.

I will cease to blame the stupidity of the slaves
Upon their masters and nurture, and will say,
Plainly, that they are enemies to culture,
Advancement and cleanliness.

From progressive organisations, from quarterlies
Devoted to daring verse, from membership of
Committees, from letters of various protest
I shall withdraw forthwith.

When they call me reactionary I shall smile
Secure in another dimension. When they say
‘Cinna has ceased to matter’ I shall know
How well I reflect the times.

The ruling class will think I am on their side
And make friendly overtures, but I shall retire
To the side furthest from Picra and write some poems
About the doom of the whole boiling.

Anyone happy in this age and place
Is daft or corrupt. Better to abdicate
From a material and spiritual terrain
Fit only for barbarians.

Here is a lovely WordPress site where I found Roy Fuller’s poem:   http://favourite-poems.com/