We ring this bell and thus we do connote
the dirge for thine own forfeit, heathen soul
in peals of condemnation, note by note
and strike thy name from Heaven’s sacred roll.
We close this book and herein seal thy fate;
the Book of Life be closed to thee from hence,
that from this tome and time ye contemplate
thy loss from hope and love and innocence.
We suffocate this candle, mark the gloom
that rushes in to claim abandoned space
and hurl these tokens down to mark thy doom
and speak thy name no more, thou shorn of grace!
Lord Jesus we do here Thy power invoke;
Thou loath to damn, Salvation now revoke.
Author notes
In earlier times, a bishop and twelve priests could effect excommunication on an individual using the symbols of bell, book and candle as depicted in the poem. How the Lord's minions could perform these and other methods of cruelty in the name of the Love and Salvation Christ brought into the world has been a puzzlement to me. Maybe you just had to be there.
A contest entry
- Shakespearean Sonnets by masterblaster.
6500 points, ended December 14, 2008, 16 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
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Thought-provoking...
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Hi, good sonnet, great feel, good story line, Di
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Glad you liked this sonnet. Thank you for the contest and for the HM.
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Wonderful sonnet, and a chilling look at excommunication, more of man's inhumanity to man.
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Man's inhumanity to man -- there is always a surfeit of that going around. Sad, frustrating, tragic.
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Excellent Sonnet. So well done to this prompt with full meaning and emotion. Wise, mature, and heartfelt. I too wonder sometimes at how cruel man can be to his own.
We still have far to go.
Best of luck in this contest. A wonderfully written sonnet.
~Pamela 
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Thank you. Yours is high praise from an excellent poet.
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