Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BEFORE THE SOUL'S TRIBUNAL, by MARCUS S. C. RICKARDS First Line: The champion of a lawless crew Last Line: And o'er my being reign! Subject(s): Crime & Criminals; Life; Pride; Soul; Self-esteem; Self-respect | ||||||||
THE champion of a lawless crew, A murderer, a robber, too, Caught, tried, and sentenced to his due, He lingers in his cell: This hour he dies, yet on the eve Of crucifixion, I receive An audience, begging his reprieve, Of senators from Hell. 'Tis festal tide, and one they say Has ever been released to-day: Of two lorn prisoners they pray My grace on him may light. The other, by their malice bound, Confronting me, they now surround, Each baying like a hungry hound Whose quarry looms in sight. Decision is my single task, What evil hath he done? I ask: Their hoarse accusings plainly mask Undying bitter hate. Pure, tender, true, he has but taught The doom of infamy, and sought To bring whatever can be brought To Goodness, soon or late. Ah! whether of the twain? Decide, My spirit! say -- shall it be Pride? He is the culprit who had died But for this vile appeal Of lusts and impulses within, Sworn prompters and supports of Sin, That throng the Judgment-seat to win His sentence's repeal. Is Pride to live, that rebel chief, Of grace and truth and love the thief, Who murders hope, and slays belief, And officers all guile? Shall not Life's banquet prove a night Of Passover from Dark to Light -- The Coronation day of Right Throned all to reconcile? Ah! bid the faultless Guide be freed, (I call him Conscience now) whose lead Obeyed shall satisfy all need, And purify at length! Fettered, tho' never breaking laws, Silent, yet pleading well his cause, Each Devil's advocate he awes And makes their claim his strength. Barabbas, to the Cross! thy doom Is sealed: this heart, of Pride the womb, Shall yield it, dying hard, a tomb, Nor let it rise again! But thou, the Christ within, all hail! Thine be the Throne! the chain, the jail, Be theirs that bound Thee. Live, Prevail, And o'er my being Reign! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ROCK AND HAWK by ROBINSON JEFFERS GODOLPHIN HORNE, WHO WAS CURSED WITH THE SIN OF PRIDE, AND BECAME A BOOT-BLACK by HILAIRE BELLOC PRIDE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE THIN EDGE OF YOUR PRIDE: 1 by KENNETH REXROTH PRIMER LESSON by CARL SANDBURG HAEC FABULA DOCET by ROBERT FROST VICTIM OF HIMSELF by MARVIN BELL A DREAM OF PERFECTION by MARCUS S. C. RICKARDS |
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