"To Jesus on His Birthday" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

[DerekG]

I recalled this poem--the most bitter I've ever read--upon hearing the account of a four-year old Iraqi child who lost her entire family to our bombs.



To Jesus on His Birthday

By Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)


For this your mother sweated in the cold,
For this you bled upon the bitter tree:
A yard of tinsel ribbon bought and sold;
A paper wreath; a day at home for me.
The merry bells ring out, the people kneel;
Up goes the man of God before the crowd;
With voice of honey and with eyes of steel
He drones your humble gospel to the proud.
Nobody listens. Less than the wind that blows
Are all your words to us you died to save.
O Prince of Peace! O Sharon's dewy Rose!
How mute you lie within your vaulted grave.
The stone the angel rolled away with tears
Is back upon your mouth these thousand years.

[Erika]

1. How desperately sad

Christ has little to do with today's religious concepts espoused by fundamentalists and evangelicals.

Maybe the poem just makes me feel desperately sad.

[Bluerthanblue]

2. how true

how timely-

reminds me of Jackson Browne's
"The Rebel Jesus"-

my homemade Christmas card's theme this year:


All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants’ windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
They’ll be gathering around the hearths and tales
Giving thanks for all god’s graces
And the birth of the rebel jesus

Well they call him by the prince of peace
And they call him by the savior
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavor
As they fill his churches with their pride and gold
And their faith in him increases
But they’ve turned the nature that I worshipped in
From a temple to a robber’s den
In the words of the rebel jesus

We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why they are poor
They get the same as the rebel jesus

But please forgive me if I seem
To take the tone of judgement
For I’ve no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
We have need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel jesus.

[Erika]

3. If one were to allow themselves a few tears

they would find a torrent following.

Christianity as outlined in the New Testament is no longer followed by the power brokers of this country.