Joshua 2:1-24
It came to pass, Joshua sent two men
And, ‘twas in that town they found a harlot
Oath was made that it not be done again
And thus is told of the cord of scarlet
In Jericho, they found the harlot’s house
Her name was Rahab, so she took them in
She must be a harlot, she had no spouse
To harbor men, most certainly a sin
Then came the time, that they should not be seen
The Scarlet Cord, lowered out the window
Her family to protect, by God serine
They’d not be harmed, blending into shadow
The promise called for blessings from the king
Good fortunes that her scarlet cord did bring
Author notes
English sonnet
Joshua 2:1-24 KJV (Bible story of the Scarlet Cord)15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.
18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee.
21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
In a list
A contest entry
- Word Prompt by Samplette.
700 points, ended October 11, 2007, 16 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 10 of 10
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Excellent
Well done. I admire people who can write sonnets. To me that's a very difficult task. You retold the story very beautifully. Congratulations on the gold. Well deserved.
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Ah, the inspiration for my contest. A beautiful write you have crafted here. It is good to be allowed to read you again. Why I wasn't befuddled me, but I digress.
Thank you so much for entering such a wonderful sonnet in the contest.
Sam
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Very Imaginative
I like your imaginative rendering of the story without taking away from it.
It is also well-structure. I enjoyed it very well. Keep up the good work, Amera, and keep your light shining.
Well done.
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One of the best I have read. Period.
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I love narrative sonnets. This one is very nice. All the lines are decasyllabic. I think this tells the story well. I give it three bunnies.
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There is a long and honored tradition of scriptural paraphrase in poetic form. Milton's first poems--at least the oldest that survive--were psalm paraphrases he did at 14 or 15...and he believed in them so strongly that he included them in his last collection of poetry, published the year he died.
This is a strong sample of how well scripture lends itself to poetic interpretation. Good work.
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Beautiful write. Thanks for sharing this story. I don't read much of the bible, but I found this piece very interesting. I think it's awesome that you can take verses from the Bible and turn it into such a beautiful poem. Best of luck in the contest.
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again with the AESV(amera english sonnet version) translation of ancient script
nice choice. i always found this story very interesting. my mind also wanders a bit...wonderin if the spies took advantage of her services. though i doubt it seein as they were runnin for their lives. what's most intriguing is the esteem this harlot was given. and even beyond that...how she found her self in the bloodline of jesus the christ. nicely done
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Thank you, I'm impressed; you know the story. The prompt is Scarlet cord so I knew there could be no other poem to write. Thanks again.
Love,
Amera♥
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strangest of tales
Mysterious tale, i've never read this, weaved into
a poem, of rumors and truth ,..A tale of a scarlet chord. Inspiring.
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