Today being the Good Friday of Holy Week, I have been thinking of a poem by Ezra Pound – a controversial poet who was by no means outwardly Christian or even religious, but who wrote a poem that captures the nature of Jesus Christ. More specifically, Pound captures the masculinity and divinity of Jesus through the viewpoint of one the lesser-known 12 disciples, Simon the Zealot.
I like that Simon narrates with a common masculine voice, the voice of a sailor or a carpenter. The voice of working men as the majority of the 12 disciples were. The voice of sinful but redeemed men who would spread the Gospel until they faced their own executions. The voice of a man bearing witness that his good friend or mate (or “fere” as in the poem’s title) was Christ, the Son of God.
Ballad of the Goodly Fere
Ha' we lost the goodliest fere o' all
For the priests and the gallows tree?
Aye lover he was of brawny men,
O' ships and the open sea.
When they came wi' a host to take Our Man
His smile was good to see,
"First let these go!" quo' our Goodly Fere,
"Or I'll see ye damned," says he.
Aye he sent us out through the crossed high spears
And the scorn of his laugh rang free,
"Why took ye not me when I walked about
Alone in the town?" says he.
Oh we drank his "Hale" in the good red wine
When we last made company,
No capon priest was the Goodly Fere
But a man o' men was he.
I ha' seen him drive a hundred men
Wi' a bundle o' cords swung free,
That they took the high and holy house
For their pawn and treasury.
They'll no' get him a' in a book I think
Though they write it cunningly;
No mouse of the scrolls was the Goodly Fere
But aye loved the open sea.
If they think they ha' snared our Goodly Fere
They are fools to the last degree.
"I'll go to the feast," quo' our Goodly Fere,
"Though I go to the gallows tree."
"Ye ha' seen me heal the lame and blind,
And wake the dead," says he,
"Ye shall see one thing to master all:
'Tis how a brave man dies on the tree."
A son of God was the Goodly Fere
That bade us his brothers be.
I ha' seen him cow a thousand men.
I have seen him upon the tree.
He cried no cry when they drave the nails
And the blood gushed hot and free,
The hounds of the crimson sky gave tongue
But never a cry cried he.
I ha' seen him cow a thousand men
On the hills o' Galilee,
They whined as he walked out calm between,
Wi' his eyes like the grey o' the sea,
Like the sea that brooks no voyaging
With the winds unleashed and free,
Like the sea that he cowed at Genseret
Wi' twey words spoke' suddently.
A master of men was the Goodly Fere,
A mate of the wind and sea,
If they think they ha' slain our Goodly Fere
They are fools eternally.
I ha' seen him eat o' the honey-comb
Sin' they nailed him to the tree.
Ezra Pound - 1909
Interesting, I don't know much of Pound beyond some pretentious teen dabbling. I see what you're getting at with his use of the vernacular and that touched me some. What I didn't like was his making Jesus so macho 'He cried no cry when they drave the nails...But never a cry cried he'
For me the most telling part of the crucifixion was when He cried out 'My God my God why hast thou foresaken me?' - that is so human - so frail - it speaks to the absolute terror and agony of the cross.
On this subject I was given the new biography of John Donne Super-Infinite in which I read that Donne argued that by allowing himself to be crucified Jesus committed suicide...interesting suggestion. And I only recently came across (thanks to my son) the Grand Inquisitor's argument that by not accepting the Devil's temptations and by allowing himself to be put to death so cruelly Jesus damns all us poor humans to fail for every.
It is far from an original thought but I find is a curious thing that we Christian's grow up with the a God that had to suffer so much to give us all grace.
Anyway I've run out of puff again. No need to reply if you find all this an inappropriate line of thought on this particular weekend.