A Christmas Sonnet

[E. Shaun]

"In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not." - Matthew 2:18


CCCLIX.

For weeks the Magi sought the astral lure
That guided them in their prophetic quest:
The Son of Man born in a stable West?
They saw the babe bedraggled, and were sure;
But Balthasar, the bearer of the myrrh,
Saw nothing in the manger to suggest
That this slight infant was divinely blessed,
Or was the holy will of God made pure.
His thoughts then turned to Herod, despot king,
Who'd had each local man-child sacrificed;
Perhaps, he thought, this was a changeling--
Some innocent impostor, while instead,
The saviour of mankind, the rightful Christ
Was one mere corpse among the newborn dead.

[Aardvark]

Thank-you very much for this Shaun. It is timely, respectful and thought provoking.

I hope you decide to share more of your work with us here at the Womb, as it is nothing less than a pleasure whenever you choose to.


Cheers,
Aardvark

[mousdrvr]

Wow, that's impressive.

[Aardvark]

Wow, that's impressive.

He has hundreds of them. I do mean hundreds.



Let me repeat that without one hint of hyperbole.



He has hundreds of them.



Rather humbling in some ways...energising in others.



Cheers,
Aardvark

[Barish]

Just before I go to bed, I just wanted to commemorate the birth of Jesus from my own scripts:

16. And mention in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East.

17. She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her Our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects.

18. She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah."

19. He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a pure son.

20. She said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?"

21. He said: "So (it will be): thy Lord saith, 'That is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us'. It is a matter (so) decreed."

22. So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place.

23. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree. She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten!"

24. But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee;

25. "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee.

26. "So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man, say, 'I have vowed a fast to (Allah) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into no talk with any human being'"

27. At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: "O Mary! truly a strange thing has thou brought!

28. "O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!"

29. But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"

30. He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah. He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;

31. "And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live;

32. "(He hath made me) kind to my mother, and not overbearing or unblest;

33. "So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)"!

[mousdrvr]

B, thanks for that man. That's very cool.

[Fulcrum]

^
|

What he said. Thanks for sharing that Barish.

And lest I forget, to E Shaun for the sonnet. Neatly encapsulated.