DerekG
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Fri Dec-24-04 12:21 PM
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Heartbreaking poem: "To Jesus on His Birthday" by Edna St. Vincent Millay |
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I recalled this poem--the most bitter I've ever read--upon hearing the account of a four-year old Iraqi child who lost her entire family to our bombs.
To Jesus on His Birthday
By Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)
For this your mother sweated in the cold, For this you bled upon the bitter tree: A yard of tinsel ribbon bought and sold; A paper wreath; a day at home for me. The merry bells ring out, the people kneel; Up goes the man of God before the crowd; With voice of honey and with eyes of steel He drones your humble gospel to the proud. Nobody listens. Less than the wind that blows Are all your words to us you died to save. O Prince of Peace! O Sharon's dewy Rose! How mute you lie within your vaulted grave. The stone the angel rolled away with tears Is back upon your mouth these thousand years.
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ewagner
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Fri Dec-24-04 12:24 PM
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posting that....
I had forgotten.............
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Rowdyboy
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Fri Dec-24-04 12:34 PM
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2. I had forgotten how powerful that piece is |
hlthe2b
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Fri Dec-24-04 12:39 PM
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3. Wow... I'd never read that.... |
progmom
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Fri Dec-24-04 12:54 PM
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C_eh_N_eh_D_eh
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Fri Dec-24-04 01:40 PM
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Duncan Grant
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Fri Dec-24-04 01:51 PM
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6. Sure to be in my personal "top 10" threads of the day. |
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Thank you for posting this, DerekG. A perfect choice... :thumbsup: :hi:
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Duncan Grant
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Fri Dec-24-04 03:28 PM
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7. a gentle kick back to the first page... |
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Edited on Fri Dec-24-04 03:29 PM by 94114_San_Francisco
From Keats' Endymion.
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
:kick: edit: emoticon :P
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DerekG
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Fri Dec-24-04 09:08 PM
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9. Keats can be a wonderful balm for sorrow |
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The passage does resonate: Christ's vison "will never pass into nothingness"--the Lord saw a world rife with brutality yet through His words, His actions, His sacrifice, He offered us a way out, a chance to tame our savageness. But when I look at the scorched faces of those Iraqi children, when I see the families here who are doomed to a life of poverty, when I hear the speeches of that monstrous, modern-day Nero of ours, and when I ruminate on my own failings as a Christian and human being, I doubt whether we're ever going to bring God's dream--of ending militarism, economic exploitation and racism-- to fruition. It has become more and more agonizing for me.
But thank you for the Keats excerpt.
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Duncan Grant
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Fri Dec-24-04 08:28 PM
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8. and another gentle kick to the front page... |
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Thu Apr 25th 2024, 10:02 AM
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