Christian Poetry: "A Forest Hymn" by William Cullen Bryant

[ysabetwordsmith]

Christianity is one of the world's biggest religions, comprising many denominations such as Catholic, Protestant, and Episcopalian. Although all the branches share the same ultimate background, they differ greatly on tenets of belief and practices. Thus the tone of contemporary churches also varies a lot. They generally base their faith on the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible.

Christian poetry is likewise extremely diverse, but there are some popular topics. One focuses on the poet's relationship with Jesus. Another admires the world as God's creation. Then there are some lovely liturgical poems focused on particular virtues or occasions. The Bible itself is written in "verses" and if you look at some sections you can see poetic devices such as repetition and allegory.

William Cullen Bryant was a Christian poet. His works enjoyed wide popularity in his lifetime, but have faded from cultural awareness since then. He wrote with equal appreciation of the human spirit and the beauty of nature, seeing God reflected in all these things. Below is an excerpt and a link to one of his poems.

A Forest Hymn
by William Cullen Bryant

The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned 
To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave, 
And spread the roof above them,---ere he framed 
The lofty vault, to gather and roll back 
The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood, 
Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down, 
And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks 
And supplication. For his simple heart 
Might not resist the sacred influences, 
Which, from the stilly twilight of the place, 
And from the gray old trunks that high in heaven 
Mingled their mossy boughs, and from the sound 
Of the invisible breath that swayed at once 
All their green tops, stole over him, and bowed 
His spirit with the thought of boundless power 
And inaccessible majesty. Ah, why 
Should we, in the world's riper years, neglect 
God's ancient sanctuaries, and adore 
Only among the crowd, and under roofs, 
That our frail hands have raised? Let me, at least, 
Here, in the shadow of this aged wood, 
Offer one hymn---thrice happy, if it find 
Acceptance in His ear. 

Christian Poetry: "His footprints" by Elizabeth Barrette

[ysabetwordsmith]

While Christianity is not one of the religions I personally follow, there are parts of it that I do like, and I have studied a fair bit of its history. I think Jesus is a pretty interesting personage and his actual teachings are a lot closer to my own ideals than most church doctrine of today. Plus of course I just like mystic poetry in general, so some of mine overlaps into this tradition. In fact it popped up as a surprise theme in one of my poetry fishbowls when I got a cluster of poems with mystic Christian motifs.

There are little hints in the Bible and other Christian lore that God isn't just for humans. God pays attention to the whole world, every bit of it, all the time.  What I like about Jesus is that he's been through so  much and can empathize with anything.  So I wound up writing this poem about Jesus interacting with a different audience.

His footprints
by Elizabeth Barrette

when Jesus walked on water,
it was never about the apostles
or the boat or the fish or the storms

it was always and only about the water,
about the Sea of Galilee itself,
about Jesus going down into the cupped hands
of the Earth to bless what was held there
as it had been made by His Father.

it was the waves who heard His sermon
as He whispered it to them while he walked,
explaining why the waters of the world
needed to be patient
with the sons of Adam
and the daughters of Eve,
that there would be a time for all lessons,
and that the waters were loved
no less than the men and the sparrows.

so the Sea of Galilee gave over
its tempest and the boatload of quivering apostles,
allowing Him to pull Peter to safety
and soothe their nervous fellows as they rowed away

and it thought,
as it carried them toward the distant shore
with its careful currents,
about what He had said to it:

that it is the slow and gentle strength of water
which makes its way through the hardest stone,
and so only patience and faith
can open a way through the soul.

these were the thoughts of the sea
as it watched the miracle unroll for its witnessing
and these are the thoughts that have remained
with it and within it down the long flow of years
ever since -- and it is quite certain,
as it lies dreaming under the pale round moon,
that it has not yet finished discovering
all that He said in that sermon.

even today, the Sea of Galilee remembers
the tender press of His warm bare feet
upon its trembling surface
as He carried the weight of the world
balanced on his slim brown shoulders

and it waits,
sighing as its waves finger the sand,
for His return.