Tabb Centenary Year XVIII

Three poems by Rev. John B. Tabb.

The Annunciation

“Fiat!”—The flaming word
   Flashed, as the brooding bird
Uttered the doom far heard
   Of death and night.

“Fiat!”—A cloistered womb—
   A sealed, untainted tomb—
Wakes to the birth and bloom
   Of life and light.

March 1893 (p. 205, Religion: The Blessed Virgin)

Christ the Mendicant

A stranger, to His own
He came; and one alone,
   Who knew not sin,
His lowliness believed,
And in her soul conceived
   To let Him in.

He naked was, and she
Of her humanity
   A garment wove:
He hungered, and she gave
What most His heart did crave—
   A Mother’s love.

1893 (p. 211, Religion: An Octave to Mary)

The Debtor Christ

What, woman, is my debt to thee,
   That I should not deny
The boon thou dost demand of me?
   “I gave thee power to die.”

1893 (p. 212, Religion: An Octave to Mary)

[Today the Roman Church celebrates the Annunciation of the Lord (called the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin, in Father Tabb’s time) recalling the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary of the conception of her Divine Son, as recounted in Luke 1:26-38. (Note: Christmas Day, the Lord’s birthday, is nine months from this day.) “The Annunciation”: fiat is Latin for “so be it” or “let it be”; “brooding bird”: the Holy Spirit is often portrayed as a dove (see, for instance, Matthew 3:13-17) and has thus been frequently included in pictorial representations of the Annunciation. “Christ the Mendicant”: the first stanza seems to echo John 1:10-12. “The Debtor Christ”: a boon is a gift; see John 2:4 for the usage of “woman” in the first line; the first three lines are the Lord’s question to His mother; the last line is her answer to Him.]

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 03/25/09 07:32:20 AM
Categorized as Father Tabb Centenary Year & Literary.