God Speaks Through The Mouths Of Poets
Every poem has an element of God in it's words. Just as God spoke
through the writings of Peter or Matthew, elements of His word are in the
beautiful themes in poetry. In this essay, I will compare the poems of
William Blake and William Wordsworth with the written Word of God, in five
poems: The Lamb, The Chimney Sweeper, The Tyger, My Heart Leaps Up, and
London 1802. My aim is to show that the writings of great poets are truly
the words of God. Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made
thee? These begin the words of William Blake's The Lamb. Just as God asks
us, Blake questions our understanding of our creator. If we are seen as
the lambs of God, meek and tender, can we really understand the generosity
and glory of a God who gave us life? He did give us life, and Blake tells
us that we take this great gift for granted. So, he asks "Dost thou know
who made thee?" So God created man in His own image; in the image of God
he created him; male and female, He created them. Genesis 1:27 Anyone who
has seen a lamb knows that it is a weak creature; unable to protect it's
self from the strength of an evil predator. If we are the Lamb, then we
must rely on the protection of our Shepherd, God. Why would Blake call us
a Lamb then? Aren't we stronger than any other animal upon this earth? I
think that God would tell us "No," for it is He who gives us life strength,
as Blake says in the next few linesŕ Gave thee life & bid thee feed, By
the stream & o're the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest
clothing wooly bright, What strength could man have without the gifts of
God: life, food, clothing. We would have none! And Jesus said to them, "I
am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who
believes in Me shall never thirst." John 6:33 William Blake saw that the
individual man was so removed from Nature and his Creator. As science
progressed, and society seemed so wrapped up in it's money making, it's
industry and it's politics, haven't we lost touch with what is truly
important? While we see ourselves as giants, Blake reminds us that we are
just lambs. A lamb is just a baby, and needs the love of it's mother to
survive. Who are we to ignore the one who gives us life and gives us food?
Because we think we have grown, we believe we do not need to ask ourselves,
"Who made thee?" In Blake's next poem, The Chimney Sweeper, he shows us
just how much we still need God. Throughout history, man has been so
inhumane to his fellow man. Every culture has experienced some sort of
slavery or oppression.
When one thinks of how man has even enslaved his own young, I wonder how
muc lower we can degrade ourselves. The Chimney Sweeper is a poem speaking
of such inhumanity. As I read the words, "ŕ I was very young, And my
Father sold me while yet my tongue could scarcely cry weep! weep! weep!
weepŕ" I wonder if there is any God left in the hearts of men. Blake
points out our faults, our inhumanity. He is telling us to look at
ourselves, and stop this pain we cause. Just as God told us to love one
another, Blake tells us the same. "This is my commandment, that you love
one another as I have loved you. John 15:12 This is Blake's message to the
oppressors of this world! Yet, in the same short poem, Blake has a message
for the oppressed: the young chimney sweeper child will still have hope in
the words of Jesus. That is the hope that God will send an angel to free
them, with only one small condition: that the child loves his God and
follows his commandments. Then naked & white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind. And the Angel told Tom, if
he'd be a good boy, He'd have God for his father & never want joy. If you
keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My
Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to
you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. John
15:10-11 The two above quotes give us the same message! No matter how
painful your life may be, God will give us joy if we follow his
commandments. It is as if God has spoken his word through the writings of
John and of Blake, that God has given both men the gift of beautiful
writing, so that they may sing the words of God! As often as our Lord has
given us scripture in the Bible of his love and tenderness, there is also
a reminder of His ultimate power! Just as Blake's poetry is a combination
of asking us to embrace God's love, it is also a reminder that His
strength must be feared! The Tyger warns us that the hands of God not only
give love, but also possess a strength far beyond any other. Tyger! Tyer!
burning bright In the Forests of The night, What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? The "immortal hand" that created the
tiger is the same hand that offers us eternal joy, if we follow Him. What
fool would tell Him "No?" Just as a child sometimes tests the limits of
his or her parent's patience, we test the limits of God's patience with us.
Children often run wild if they know that their parent will never punish
them for their misbehavior. If God only gave us the message of love & joy,
we may never fear his rule over us. Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrewsŕ
I will send all my plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on
your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.
Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with
pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. But indeed
for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you,
and that My name may be declared in all the earth. Exodus 9:14-16 What
strength in these words! Surely it makes the sinner fear God. Blake
creates the same message, in a slightly different way. He tells us of the
tiger, his symmetry and strength in his shoulder, his strong heart, his
fiery eyes, the grasp of his hands and feet, his quick brain. Surely, the
tiger is one to be feared, for he may take your life in an instant! But,
what of his creator? Isn't it true that the creator of the tiger is
surpassing in strength? So, Blake asks us one last question, is the one
who made the tender lamb, the same that made the fearful tiger? Such words
and questions bring the same message, that is that God is one to be feared,
for like the tiger, He may take your life away from you in an instant! The
poetry of William Wordsworth is very different in style, but still
contains elements of God's influence. Rejoicing in God's symbol, the poem
My Heart Leaps Up. At first, the poem is a celebration of the beauty in
nature, and the wonders of the elegant rainbow.
Then, he reminds us of the rainbow as God's symbol of protection. I set My
rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between
Me and the earth. Genesis 9:13 Wordsworth makes an interesting segue when
he says "the Child is father of the man," he is speaking of Jesus Christ
as the Child, and also the idea that the child will become the man. In all
of Wordsworth's poems of nature, he views his surroundings in a child-
like wonder. Many of the natural beauties around us are ignored by adults,
who have lost touch with their roots in nature; however, the child is very
different. The child sees everything through the eyes of innocence and
wonder: the rainbow is truly a miracle of God, to the child. This is why
he says "And I wish my days to be bound by each by natural piety." What a
subtle and beautiful statement of faith and appreciation of God's nature
and beauty! London 1802, although a poem titled by it's date of birth, is
so timeless. Easily, it could be re-titled, "The World Today," for it
addresses the problems of men that still exist after almost two-hundred
years. It represents a world in decline; a world that has become so
ungodly. In the brevity of the poem, we are shown our faults: stagnation,
loss of inner happiness, selfish greed, lost manners and virtue. All of
these aspects are of a society that has forgotten God. London 1802 holds
a mirror to our faces, and asks us, "Do you walk this ungodly path?" And,
this path is described by egocentricism, greed and selfishness. For what
is a man profited if he gains For I say, through the grace given to me, to
everyone the whole world, and loses his own who is among you, not to think
of himself more soul? Or, what will a man give in highly than he ought to
think, but to think soberly, as exchange for his soul? Matt 16:26 God has
dealt to each one a measure of faith. Rom 12:3 He has shown you, O man,
what is good; and what does the Lord require you But to do justly, to love
mercy And to walk humbly with your God? Mic 6:8 In five poems, I have
shown only a small sample of the similarities in poetry and the words of
God. Five seemingly very different poems all have this one aspect alike.
Is it just a coincidence? God often talks to men on earth in many subtle
ways. Every Sunday school student learns that God has granted each and
every one of us a special gift or talent, that God may work his miracles
through. The sight of a beautiful painting or the sound of a beautiful
song is godly, as if He, Himself, is painting through the hands of the
artist, or speaking through the mouth of the singer. The effect is
breathtaking! The poet is the most gifted, for the poet can deliver us the
message of God in a beautiful way, that we may want to read it again and
again. Followers of the Christian Faith agree that the men who wrote the
scripture in the Bible were writing the words of God, because God was
speaking to us through them. I believe that the great poets of our recent
history were also writing the words of God, for He was speaking to us
through them. How else could the scripture of the Bible, written 1800
years earlier, contain such similar meaning? Blake said, "The Jewish &
Christian Testaments are An original derivation from the Poetic Genius,"
in his essay All Religions Are One. Even a great poet, such as Blake,
admits that his words are not his own, they are the Lords of God, who
gifted him the talent. All poetry should be read, not just for it's beauty
and entertainment, but for it's special meaning delivered from God.
Reference:
Holy Bible, New King James Version. (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 2 -- Fifth Edition (c)
1986 by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Witness Against The Beast, by: E.P. Thompson (c) 1983 by E.P.
Thompson The Theocritean Element in Wordsworth, by: Leslie Nathan
Broughton Written 1920, for the Graduate School of Cornell University
Word Count: 1,953