CHRIST AND ORPHEUS (3) - Druckversion +- Sonett-Forum (https://sonett-archiv.com/forum) +-- Forum: Sonett-Archiv (https://sonett-archiv.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=126) +--- Forum: Sonette aus germanischen Sprachen (https://sonett-archiv.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=394) +---- Forum: Englische Sonette (https://sonett-archiv.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=818) +----- Forum: Autoren T (https://sonett-archiv.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=846) +------ Forum: Turner, Charles Tennyson (https://sonett-archiv.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=932) +------ Thema: CHRIST AND ORPHEUS (3) (/showthread.php?tid=19649) |
CHRIST AND ORPHEUS (3) - ZaunköniG - 27.12.2010 CHRIST AND ORPHEUS. What means this vain ideal of our Lord, With ' Orpheus ' underwritten ? Couldst thou see With eyes of faith the Incarnate Deity, That faith a nobler title would accord Than this, whereat no Christian fancy warms ; Thou would'st not score the mythic harper's name Beneath the fallen head and outstretch'd arms, Nor seem to blink our dear Redeemer's claim To His own cognizance and proper fame ; The sorrowing manhood of the King of kings, The double nature, and the death of shame, The tomb—the rising—are substantial things, Irrelevant to Orpheus ; What hath made Thy wisdom match Messias with a shade ? O give thy King no bynames ! nor decry The title proper to His native throne Within our hearts, as tho' thou would'st deny The authentic angel's voice which made it known 'Tis treason to invalidate our creed By understatements, partial, vague, and scant ; A faith in music is not what we want. This sweet-toned mythus meets no sinner's need ; Come to the rescue, all who would not fuse Redemption into harp-notes ! nor exchange For this new style our grand prescriptive use ; Nor seek, from flying leaves of legend strange, To annotate Christ Jesus ! till the next Bold pen obtrudes the margin on the text. O friend, it is a deep religious loss To palter with our Master's pure renown ; To lose the sad precision of the Cross In Fancy's lights, and melt away His crown ; Gazing on truth, why should our vision swim ? Let Calvary stand clear of fabulous mist, Keep all the paths of Olivet for Christ, And let no Orphic phantom walk with Him ! Then^ and then only, welcome ! what they tell Of that majestic harp, which came full-strung Among the woes of Hades, to compel A pause in all her penance—of the spell Marr'd by a look-—and of that faithful tongue. Which Death and Hebrus strove in vain to quell. |