This is part of my poetry presentation for my Inklings class on Monday. I was just super-excited about what I learned and decided it was too cool not to share with the world!
The Late Passenger by C. S. Lewis
The sky was low, the sounding rain was falling dense and dark,
And Noah’s sons were standing at the window of the Ark.
The beasts were in, but Japhet said, ‘I see one creature more
Belated and unmated there come knocking at the door.’
‘Well let him knock,’ said Ham, ‘Or let him drown or learn to swim.
We’re overcrowded as it is; we’ve got no room for him.’
‘And yet it knocks, how terribly it knocks,’ said Shem, ‘Its feet
Are hard as horn–but oh the air that comes from it is sweet.‘Now hush,’ said Ham, ‘You’ll waken Dad, and once he comes to see
What’s at the door, it’s sure to mean more work for you and me.’
Noah’s voice came roaring from the darkness down below,
‘Some animal is knocking. Take it in before we go.’
Ham shouted back, and savagely he nudged the other two,
‘That’s only Japhet knocking down a brad-nail in his shoe.’
Said Noah, ‘Boys, I hear a noise that’s like a horse’s hoof.’
Said Ham, ‘Why, that’s the dreadful rain that drums upon the roof.’
Noah tumbled up on deck and out he put his head;
His face went grey, his knees were loosed, he tore his beard and said,
‘Look, look! It would not wait. It turns away. It takes its flight.
Fine work you’ve made of it, my sons, between you all to-night!
‘Even if I could outrun it now, it would not turn again
–Not now. Our great discourtesy has earned its high disdain.‘Oh noble and unmated beast, my sons were all unkind;
In such a night what stable and what manger will you find?
‘Oh golden hoofs, oh cataracts of mane, oh nostrils wide
With indignation! Oh the neck wave-arched, the lovely pride!
‘Oh long shall be the furrows ploughed across the hearts of men
Before it comes to stable and to manger once again,
‘And dark and crooked all the ways in which our race shall walk,
And shrivelled all their manhood like a flower with broken stalk,
‘And all the world, oh Ham, may curse the hour when you were born;
Because of you the Ark must sail without the Unicorn.’
The unicorn is a beast too strong for any hunter to take; but if you set a virgin before him he loses all his ferocity, lays down his head in her lap, and sleeps. Then we can kill him. It is hard to believe that any Christian can think for long about this exquisite myth without seeing in it an allegory of the Incarnation and Crucifixion. (Lewis, The Discarded Image, pp. 149-150)
Revelation 3:20: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in….”
‘And yet it knocks, how terribly it knocks,’ said Shem, ‘Its feet/Are hard as horn–but oh the air that comes from it is sweet.’: An allusion to the mythology surrounding the unicorn: the scent of a virgin is “sweet” and therefore attractive to the unicorn; here, Shem is attracted to the purity of the unicorn—its “sweet air”, and in his heart a longing is awakened.
Noah tumbled up on deck and out he put his head;/His face went grey, his knees were loosed, he tore his beard and said: Several ancient tapestries depict the unicorn tethered to a pomegranate tree, a symbol of youthful vitality and fertility. With its departure, Noah’s face turns “grey,” a symbol of age, for life has departed with it.
Our great discourtesy has earned its high disdain: Noah, as the last righteous man alive, is aware of how his world has rejected God, and how it has been rejected. In consequence, they face the death of an innocent victim.
Oh long shall be the furrows ploughed across the hearts of men/Before it comes to stable and to manger once again: Echoes of the curse: Gen 3:17
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.”
This is where the myth fades into reality. Looking forward to the Nativity, Noah anticipates the next time Christ shall reveal himself, and how far in the future this will be.
The Late Passenger, the unicorn left out of the ark, is a perfect example of Lewis’ ability to use his extensive knowledge of Medieval mythology to awaken the transcendent truth latent within it. Understanding the analogy of the unicorn being Christ, this lighthearted poem quickly becomes heavy with theological meaning, inviting the reader to answer the “knock at the door” before it is too late.
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Psalm 126: You Have Done Great Things
Introduction: the Psalms of Ascent
Psalms 120-134 are a grouping of psalms entitled the Psalms of Ascent. Although their specific purpose is not clearly explained in the Psalms, the probable use was for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem (situated in the mountains) for religious festivals. Psalm 122 alludes to this use in verses 3-4: “Jerusalem — built as a city that is bound firmly together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of Yahweh” (ESV). This practice is mentioned in 1 Kings 12:28, as well as in Luke 2:42, where we find Jesus and his family participating. Mays, in particular, argues for this use of the Psalms of Ascent, for several reasons:
1. The psalms are short and easy to memorize.
2. They are filled with references to Jerusalem and Zion, and the word Israel is used more
frequently than in other psalms.
3. They are full of liturgical phrases and benedictions, and have a particular emphasis on
blessings.
Other than these common characteristics, however, they are a variety of different genres, and in fact, many are difficult to classify.
Psalm 126 is no exception. Interpretations differ as to whether this is a lament (communal petition) or a thanksgiving psalm. Much of this confusion in interpretation has to do with the fact that the Hebrew is ridiculously obscure. The meaning of the psalm is drastically affected by whether or not this psalm is in future or past tense. The NJPS is the only translation that translates the psalm in future tense, all other modern translations (including Eaton’s) place all the activity in the verses in the past. How the tense is translated is affected by one little word and its function in Hebrew grammar. This may not seem that important, but it is. The translation of this little word affects the interpretation of the whole psalm: whether it is past tense or not puts its setting either before or after the exile and thus gives it an entirely different meaning.
There seems to be good reason to translate it in past tense. Allen points out that the future tense is awkward: “The Lord will have had done great things” doesn’t make sense in English or Hebrew. The psalm has the adverb az which can modify a future tense into a past tense. With the exception of Eaton, the majority of commentators I read thought it was post-exilic writing, possibly by Ezra. One good reason for this is the stylistic and theological similarities between this psalm and the book of Joel (e.g., Joel 3:1).
Structure
The Psalm can easily be divided into two sections:
vv. 1-3: Remembering the restoration
vv. 4-6: Petition for renewal
It is so easily divided because of the parallel verses 1 and 4: “restores the fortunes” in verse 1 is repeated again in verse 4, “restore our fortunes.” The psalm is full of little couplets: “The Lord has done great things for us” is repeated twice verbatim; sowing in tears and reaping in joy is repeated and expanded; even verse 6’s “carrying the seed-bag” is paralleled by “carrying the sheaves.” It is a tight little poem, beautiful in its simplicity.
Difficulties and Interpretation
The commentators I read really wrestled with the Hebrew wording in Psalm 126; “restores the fortunes” seemed to be the most problematic phrase. The word translated “restore” can mean a variety of things that are hard to carry over into English. Calvin and Eaton argue back and forth, metaphorically speaking, about whether or not the phrase translated as “brought back captives” in the NIV and “restored the fortunes” in the ESV would be better translated “restore greatly” or, literally, “turned the turning.” The Hebrew word Shibath can either mean captivity or reversal. Calvin suggests it is a play on words: that the captive ones have been turned around and brought home. The basis of each translator’s decision is, again, the result of their theology. The question of Psalm 126 is its setting: is this psalm a prediction about Yahweh bringing his people back from exile, a psalm of thanksgiving for the Cyrus Edict, or a seasonal psalm about the harvest? I think there are elements of each interpretation that help us understand the psalm, but the majority, and some of the most reliable commentators I read—Calvin, Matthew Henry, Leslie Allen—conclude that this is a post-exilic psalm of praise.
The essence of the word Shibath is a dramatic reversal—something has drastically changed. Throughout the psalm this is emphasized: the imagery of water in a dry land (literally: “like the wadis in the Negev”: canyons in the arid south that would flood with water when the rains came), the dichotomy between tears and joy, sowing (death of the seed) and reaping (life for the community). This concept is central in prophetic literature, specifically literature from the time of the exile onward. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea—all are prophets of judgment and yet point forward to a time of great forgiveness, the “eucatastrophy,” when the community moves from a position of Divine wrath to Divine favor, from participating in death to being given new life. Whether it is referring to the return of exiles or simply the seasonal restoration of life to the community, the point is that God brings about restoration—a restoration so drastic even the pagan nations see and are amazed.
Application
The Israelites looked back at their history to build their trust in God. When they traveled to Jerusalem to worship, they recounted to each other, through song, what God had done in the past. This restoration is a promise New Testament believers can cling to as well. Looking back at the dramatic reversal God has done in our lives can lead us to trust God more fully in the future. Furthermore, the promise of restoration is greater than simply salvation here and now—we are looking forward to a future Jerusalem, when God’s people scattered across the world will finally come home, and leave weeping in the past. This is the hope we cling to, and it is hope because we know our God can do it. In the midst of death, we have seen him bring life, and thus we can trust him. It is a reminder in a time of waiting that life will spring forth if we are just patient. God is working.
Mays commented that this psalm is traditionally read at Thanksgiving, as Christians look back on what God has done for them. It is also read as part of the Advent and Lent traditions. Looking back on these two huge acts that God has done in history, how can we not look forward with hope? Paul’s words in Galatians ring true here: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal 6:9, NIV). Understanding the great reversal he has worked in our own lives makes our expectations for the future greater, as we look ahead and pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done,” we eagerly wait and expect to see “God moving…and his coming as brilliant as the sunrise” (Hab 3:4).
