Before, a stony man rode,
A young boy bound behind,
He pleaded: “Father, have mercy!”
Into the Shadow of Death.
The father, clad darkly,
His face pale, writhed,
Off the horse he slugged,
Tenderly sliding his son down.
Tears reddening his eyes,
The father held upon his son
And threw down timbers –
Forming a small pyre.
His son whimpering,
The father winced,
Covering the eyes that
Squeezed his heart.
Beside the alter of wood,
His son gingerly placed,
The father drew his blade:
Curved, cold, and unforgiving.
The son bucked:
Shaking, shivering… screaming.
Slowly the edge descended,
Reluctant for the fleshly sacrifice.
The father finally sighed,
He pressed downwards truly;
But light erupted,
The armed hand withheld….
Author notes
As stated, this poem was based upon a painting by Rembrandt van Rijn entitled "Abraham and Isaac". (Please excuse me for any use of qoutation marks where they do not belong as AllPoetry.com has seen fit not to grant its freemembers the use of italics, which is what I desire right now, or underlining.) I first saw this painting on the cover of a National Geographic(tm, by its prospective owners), and it just got stuck in my head until one of my poetry teacher at UAB, Adam Vines, gave an assignment for this very thing; and so: I was well prepared.
While I cannot provide you with a picture, but if it required one then that would mean I wasn't really doing my job.
Please provide me with any helpful insight you may have and any helpful comments. I greatly appreciate anything you have to offer.
If you want to use my poem, for a project or presentation, please ask before taking. Thank you.
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Comments
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This is pretty good in representing the two sides of the situation. Not a bad effort at all.
And if you're interested in analysis of Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac, you should read "Fear and Trembling" by Soren Kierkegaard. Interesting stuff, most definitely, rather insightful. Also, he was just a damn good writer.
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