Whenever there is silence around me By day or by night— I am startled by a cry. It came down from the cross— The first time I heard it. I went out and searched— And found a man in the throes of crucifixion, And I said, "I will take you down," And I tried to take the nails out of his feet. But he said, "Let them be For I cannot be taken down Until every man, every woman, and every childCome together to take me down." And I said, "But I cannot hear you cry. What can I do?" And he said, "Go about the world— Tell everyone that you meet— There is a man on the cross." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HEART'S FIRST WORD (2) by ISAAC ROSENBERG NATIONALITY by THOMAS OSBORNE DAVIS THE LABORS OF HERCULES by MARIANNE MOORE TWO POEMS TO HANS THOMA ON HIS SIXIETH BIRTHDAY: 2. THE KNIGHT by RAINER MARIA RILKE ON THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF READING MATTER by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS |