Day Nine of the Novena of the Litany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Priest and Victim

In prospect of the American bishops' meeting in Denver, June 14 through June 20, 2004.

Vide et ora.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 06/13/04 11:41:35 AM
Categorized as Religious.

Three by Plunkett II

Three poems by Joseph Mary Plunkett.

I see His Blood Upon the Rose

I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.

I see his face in every flower;
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but his voice—and carven by his power
Rocks are his written words.

All pathways by his feet are worn,
His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.

(from "Earlier and Later Poems")

The Stars sang in God's Garden

The stars sang in God's garden;
The stars are the birds of God;
The night-time is God's harvest,
Its fruits are the words of God.

God ploughed His fields at morning,
God sowed His seed at noon,
God reaped and gathered in His corn
With the rising of the moon.

The sun rose up at midnight,
The sun rose red as blood,
It showed the Reaper, the dead Christ,
Upon His cross of wood.

For many live that one may die,
And one must die that many live—
The stars are silent in the sky
Lest my poor songs be fugitive.

(from "Earlier and Later Poems")

I saw the Sun at Midnight

I saw the Sun at midnight, rising red,
Deep-hued yet glowing, heavy with the stain
Of blood-compassion, and I saw It gain
Swiftly in size and growing till It spread
Over the stars; the heavens bowed their head
As from Its heart slow dripped a crimson rain,
Then a great tremor shook It, as of pain—
The night fell, moaning, as It hung there dead.

O Sun, O Christ, O bleeding Heart of flame!
Thou givest Thine agony as our life's worth,
And makest it infinite, lest we have dearth
Of rights wherewith to call upon Thy Name;
Thou pawnest Heaven as a pledge for Earth
And for our glory sufferest all shame.

(from "Earlier and Later Poems")

The Poems of Joseph Mary Plunkett (1916), pp. 50, 51, 52. The book is on line here.

See also Three by Plunkett I: Three poems by Joseph Mary Plunkett.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 06/13/04 11:30:27 AM
Categorized as Literary & Religious & Sunday Poetry Series.