Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, JOHN CHRISTIAN, by WALTER HENDRICKS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

JOHN CHRISTIAN, by                    
First Line: John christian knew the bible page by page
Last Line: By killing christ and spilling human blood.
Subject(s): Bible; Christianity; Hypocrisy; Religion; Social Protest; Soldiers; War; Theology


John Christian knew the Bible page by page,
He was his own concordance unabridged.
And named and claimed himself God-privileged
To expound its meaning to this hell-born age.

No word in all the Book he would deny.
He'd sooner have hurled himself into the sea
Than tipped the parrot-perch of the letter t
Or stripped the star from the heaven of the i.

Yet, at the first fool-frenzied howl for war,
Thou shalt not kill and Love your enemies
By magic changed to other words than these,
And bore no sign of what they were before.

And Christian kept the laws of man and God
By killing Christ and spilling human blood.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net