Tabb Centenary Year XXVIII

Five quatrains by Rev. John B. Tabb.

Betrayal

“Whom I shall kiss,” I heard a Sunbeam say,
   “Take him and lead away!”
Then, with the Traitor’s salutation, “Hail!”
   He kissed the Dawn-Star pale.

October 1902 (p. 334, Quatrains: Day and Night)

To the Crucifix

Day after day the spear of morning bright
   Pierces again the ever-wounded side,
Pointing at once the birthspring of the Light,
   And where for Love the Light Eternal died.

1897 (p. 330, Quatrains: Day and Night)

The Mid-Day Moon

Behold, whatever wind prevail,
Slow westering, a phantom sail—
The lonely soul of yesterday—
Unpiloted, pursues her way.

April 1894 (p. 333, Quatrains: Day and Night)

Heroes

Against the night, a champion bright,
The glow-worm, lifts a spear of light;
And, undismayed, the slenderest shade
Against the noonday bares a blade.

February 1895 (p. 333, Quatrains: Day and Night)

In Darkness

Dumb silence and her sightless sister sleep
Glide, mistlike, through the deepening vale of night;
Waking, where’er their shadowy garments sweep,
Dream-voices and an echoing dream of light.

January 1891 (p. 332, Quatrains: Day and Night)

[“Betrayal”: the poem alludes to Matthew 26:47-49; the Traitor is Judas. “To the Crucifix”: M.S. Pine (p. 96) says the poem was written specifically about a crucifix in Father Tabb's room upon which the early morning sun would shine.]

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sun. 04/26/09 10:52:05 AM
Categorized as Father Tabb Centenary Year & Literary.