“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him…”
- Matthew 17
“God intended that his open commendation of his son at the transfiguration should stabilize the disciples’ faith when everything would seem to contradict it…”
- BSF Notes
This is the clearest explanation I have yet heard of an episode in the gospels I have never before understood to my satisfaction. It causes me to think back to times when God may have revealed himself to me in some way, as intending to “prestabilize” my faith when everything should seem to be against it later on.
The crucifixion did not “give the lie” to the transfiguration, even though it would have seemed to the disciples like the ultimate broken promise.
In the same way, seemingly senseless trials in my own life do not give the lie to the promises of God that preceded them.
To explain a little, I wrote the poem in one morning, when I should have been paying attention to other things. After it was done, I thought it was the kind of poem that would reward the careful observer, so I put it out there for careful observation. To make a case study out of a poem is to cheapen it, of course, but I decided this one had gone as far as it was going to, anyway, and was more interested in peoples’ response to it as it was, than in letting it collect dust in my SOMEDAY file until it could be finished properly.
This exercise was not intended to be a simple exhibit of poetry skills. It was my hope that I would be able to pass along some insights into what makes poetry tick for some of you who may not have thought much about it before. Maybe, like most modern readers, you tend to interpret a poem using only vague impressions — if so, you could be missing out on a great deal of what the author was trying to tell you.
Observe
When I asked for comments on the poem, I mainly had in mind comments on form of it — structure and rhyme — but this was treated hardly at all in the responses I received1. More on that later.
The poem has both rhyme and structure, though neither is immediately obvious.
Wheeling overhead I hear
the ravens' voices — which I have compared
to the serpents' bite: the poison, entering your ear
finds its feeling — by degrees and choices
ending in a fatal pagan rite.
God! the rider of the storm
is their true master — who have sent us reeling,
etc...
In each verse, the ends of the first and third lines rhyme; the middle of the second line rhymes with the end of the fourth; the middle of the third with the end of the fifth; and the middle of the fourth with the end of the second line of the next stanza.
The first line has four stressed syllables (“feet”). The pattern of feet per line is 4–5–7–5–5.
Why the complicated form? Why not something simple? Simple poetry can be very enduring, after all:
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
The answer is that the form should go well with the subject. The simple rhythm above is nice for what it is; but it would become almost comical if I tried to use it for a poem about ravens and rites.
Note, also, that the rhythm in Mary had a little lamb is terribly obvious, like the bold, primary colors in a child’s bedroom. The rhythm in Wheeling overhead is more subtle, and spoken aloud, quite a bit more like normal, natural speech.
Interpret
Most of the comments I received addressed the imagery and ideas in the poem, which is understandable. Comments ranged from a mere “Sounds dark” to detailed analysis spanning many pages. My thanks to all who took time to write in their thoughts.
I was actually surprised by how detailed and accurate most of the responses were, and they even brought new perspectives on meaning that I hadn’t originally considered. I wish I had the space to treat each one individually, but fortunately my favorite is already online and available for you to read here: Observations on A Poem by “The Chieftain of Seir.” I suggest you read it, as it really nails the explanation of many of the details of the poem, and I feel it would be a waste of time to repeat it all here.
In short, though, when I wrote the poem, I was in a time of constant heaviness, and drew what I was experiencing in my mind. Birds in scripture are commonly associated with demons, and the analogy has been reinforced by the experience of Christians in every age2. The “pagan rite,” to which I felt compelled by (what I thought were) my thoughts, does indeed refer to suicide.
God, the rider of the storm, is indeed the true master of calamity as he is of deliverance, of the demons who accuse us and urge us on to destruction. As we see in the life of Job, and in the story of the serpents in the wilderness, he proves his children by the fires that are lit in hell, and at the same time saves them from the destruction they deserve.
For the rest I refer you to the Chieftain’s observations linked above. I admit I did not much consider the change from “I” to “we” in the second verse that irritates him so. I suppose I agree with him at last, but cannot say that I care much one way or the other about that aspect of — there are arguments to be made either way.
An accident, I suppose, of my having titled the original post Interpret instead of Observe - a mistake that has since been rectified as you can see.↩
E.g., from The Pilgrim’s Progress: “Just when he was come over against the mouth of the burning pit, one of the wicked ones got behind him, and stepped up softly to him, and whisperingly suggested many grievous blasphemies to him, which he verily thought had proceeded from his own mind. This put Christian more to it than anything that he met with before, even to think that he should now blaspheme him that he loved so much before; yet, if he could have helped it, he would not have done it; but he had not the discretion either to stop his ears, or to know from whence these blasphemies came.”↩
I’m going to do something a bit unusual (for me). Below are two verses of poetry I wrote over the weekend. There are lots of things I could explain about it, but just read it and tell me your observations, whatever they are. Then later on, I’ll respond.
Wheeling overhead I hear
the ravens’ voices — which I have compared
to the serpents’ bite: the poison, entering your ear
finds its feeling — by degrees and choices
ending in a fatal pagan rite.
God! the rider of the storm
is their true master, who have sent us reeling,
diving at our eyes. A countermeasure in the form
of a brazen — symbol of disaster!
we looked up and the demons ceased their cries.
‘Find me in these fields’, photo taken Nov 5, 2006
What time I weathered out the coldest Chill
The oldest Giant found me on my Hill,
A Shaking of the Chain, a bitter Lip
He cursed me then — and follows with me still.
“I charge you, taste again the acid Rain
And bleach your Future at your Failure's Drain”
— He said, and drew a colder Breath than these:
“Your Love set you aside — but I remain!”
A visit then, from a discerning Blight
Who bade me lose my Hearing or my Sight;
I said, “No View holds Promise now for me,
But let me listen in that endless Night.”
Just a summary of my experience of the recent events, in re the I-35W bridge collapse yesterday evening. The whole thing is unbelievable. As I write this the death toll stands at 4, which is incredibly low for this long after the accident, although recovery operations have been temporarily suspended at least twice due to unsafe conditions. The count will rise once they have a chance to recover the bodies remaining in submerged vehicles.
Last night there were a lot of people standing around, although contrary to what I heard on the radio there were no “ashen, stricken faces” or people standing around in shock. A lot of people were walking around the area of the collapse, joking around and goofing off. That was surreal.
When I walked up to Red Cross headquarters on West River Parkway, they told people they didn’t need any help. After awhile I walked back to the Washington Avenue exit and found some guys from Bobby and Steve’s Auto World trucking a bunch of ice and water out to the rescue workers and the Red Cross. Bobby & Steve’s basically donated almost their entire stock of sports drink and bottled water. I helped them carry a couple of pallets of drinks up from the basement and load them up on the trucks. A couple of times we made trips out to the bridge to bring drinks to the rescue workers. They wouldn’t let us drive on the still-standing portions of the bridge, so we walked the crates out to the near edge of the staging area. Our self-appointed liason with the rescue workers was an EMT named Joe M—.
Eventually we started looking for food to bring out to the workers, but there wasn’t much to bring at that point. The Red Cross had a ton of materials for sandwiches but they weren’t coming out terribly fast. There were plenty of water-carriers by that point so I went inside to start helping make sandwiches, half of which were fed to police officers and rescue workers who found their way to the center. After an hour or so of cranking out sandwiches, food started to roll in from Panera’s, Caribou, Baker’s Square, Target, and everywhere.
By this time it was midnight, and Joe the EMT rounded up some medics and requisitioned an ERV from the Red Cross to deliver ice, food and drinks to the rescue sites on either side of the river. Unfortunately, the rescue work had been largely suspended by that point and there was no need for either food or medical assistance anymore, so I sat uselessly in the back of the ERV while we drove from point to point looking for the one or two police officers left in Minneapolis who had somehow managed to avoid being offered food (we did eventually find a couple). Joe had us continue drive around the collapse site even when it became apparent that there was no use for us there, which was silly. It kind of became apparent at that point that Joe was out here on his own, not really as part of any rescue team, despite his EMT shirt and highway vest.
I finally arrived home at 2:30am this morning. As of right now I’m still trying to get information on what might be done to help, whether that’s site-related work or some other kind of assistance. I’m kind of frustrated by the fact that there is no information anywhere about what specific needs there are that might be met by volunteers. It was plain last night that, even though there was no one asking for help, there was work to do if you kept your eyes open and jumped in where there was a need. However, I don’t know whether that would be the case as things stretch out here into the recovery phase. We’ll see.
If I had seen him, I would have known him · if I had heard him I would have lain him down flat · if I had believed him I would have kept him next to me ·
If my brother had known him, I would have heard him · if I had not lain him down flat he would have drifted out to sea · if I had not kept him next to me I would not have seen him · if I had never heard him I would not have believed him.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
— Psalm 40
O Lord, make no tarrying.
— Psalm 70
The Lord killeth,
and maketh alive:
He bringeth low,
and lifteth up.
— 1 Samuel 2
II
The God who slew me in the Autumn's Shore
Awoke me in the Spring to slay once more
But knowing I slew others in my Turn
Has made my Going somewhat less the sore.
A Daughter — once an unassuming Child
I gave her, unawares, the robe of Guile
O God, guide to a better, weary Age,
And slowly change our Hearts to match our Smile.
You cannot cease from speaking to a Friend
For Silence speaks above what you pretend;
So cease! Or try — you only cry to all
That in your Eyes his Life is at an End.
III
He hath made
every thing
beautiful in His time
…also,
He set the world in each heart
So that none can find out the work
That God maketh
from the beginning to the end.
I know that,
whatsoever God does,
it shall be forever —
nothing can be added to it,
nor any thing taken away — and God does it
that men should fear before him.
— Ecclesiastes 3
What man is he
that desires life —
that loves patiently for many days
That he may see good?
Let him keep his tongue from evil
And his lips from speaking guile.
—Psalm 34
But the meek shall inherit the earth.
They shall have delight
in the abundance
of peace.
— Psalm 37
Rejoice!
O young man,
rejoice in thy youth:
Walk in the ways of thine heart,
Walk in the sight of thine eyes:
but know that in all these things
God will be your judge.
Therefore (young man)
remove sorrow and provocation from thy heart
and put away evil from thy flesh,
for your childhood is gone
and your youth will also soon vanish.
— Ecclesiastes 11
“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
Numbers 23
“Now shalt thou see what I will do…”
Exodus 6
‘Now thou shalt see what I will do’
I heard Him say it in my ear —
I do not say he spoke to you
If you could hear (perhaps it cannot be),
Then you would hear Him say of me
‘Now he shall see what I will do to him – through you.’
