Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SAINT MARY MAGDALENE by CHARLES WILLIAMS

First Line: WHAT GREAT APOSTLE, / WHEN THE CHRIST ROSE
Last Line: AND HIMSELF APPEARS.
Subject(s): MARY MAGDALEN; RELIGION; SAINTS; WOMEN - BIBLE; MARY MAGDALENE; THEOLOGY;

WHAT great Apostle,
When the Christ rose,
Met with him secretly
In the garden close?
Fast ran Saint Peter,
Fast ran Saint John,
When they heard the rumour,
But our Lord was gone.
Only in the morning
He was earliest seen
By a weeping spirit,
Mary Magdalene.

Once in a glory
To my heart he came,
Born of a maiden,
With love for his name;
But what bitter passion
On myself for tree
Hath his bounty suffered!
Now deep in me,
Silent, unmanifest,
Hiding his power,
During a time and times,
Waits he his hour.

High Imaginations,
Wait, sad and still,
Till a sudden rumour
Your desire fulfil.
But, O blessed Magdalene,
When the first dawn
Shines across my spirit
From that garden lawn,
Watch with me, speak with me,
Blind me with tears,
When angels fall silent
And Himself appears.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net