Classic and Contemporary Poetry
MY CHRISTIAN NAME, by DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK Poet's Biography First Line: My christian name, my christian name Last Line: May be my christian name. Alternate Author Name(s): Mulock, Dinah Maria Subject(s): Names | ||||||||
MY Christian name, my Christian name, I never hear it now: None have the right to utter it, 'T is lost, I scare know how. My worldly name the world speaks loud; Thank God for well-earned fame! But silence sits at my cold hearth, -- I have no household name. My Christian name, my Christian name, It has an uncouth sound; My mother chose it out of those In Bible pages found: Mother, whose accents made half sweet What else I held in shame, Dost thou remember up in heaven My poor lost Christian name? Brothers and sisters, mockers oft Of the quaint name I bore, Would I could leap back years, to hear Ye shout it out once more! One speaks it still, in written lines, The last fraternal claim: But the wide seas between us drown Its sound -- my Christian name. I had a long dream once. Her voice Might breathe the homely word, And make it music -- as love makes Any name, said or heard. O, dumb, dumb lips! -- O, silent heart! Though it is no ones' blame: Now while I live I'll never hear Her speak my Christian name. God send her bliss, and send me rest! If her white footsteps calm Should track my bleeding feet, God make To them each blood-drop balm! Peace -- peace. O mother, put thou forth Thine elder, holier claim, And the first word I hear in heaven May be my Christian name. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MISSISSIPPI by E. ETHELBERT MILLER THE FANTASTIC NAMES OF JAZZ by HAYDEN CARRUTH TV MEN: LAZARUS by ANNE CARSON CLARE OF ASSISI by MADELINE DEFREES TERMINAL LAUGHS by IRVING FELDMAN BY THE ALMA RIVER by DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK DOUGLAS, DOUGLAS, TENDER AND TRUE by DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK |
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