The Integration of the Sacred Text into the Poetic Voice

 

                                            We think that Paradise and Calvary,

                                                    Christ's cross, and Adam's tree, stood in one place;

                                        Look, Lord, and find both Adams met in me;

                                                    As the first Adam's sweat surrounds my face,

                                                     May the last Adam's blood my soul embrace. (Donne)

 

            Donne’s ability to take complex spiritual concepts and in a few lines of poetry say what theologians are still trying to explain is something I have long admired. “May the last Adam’s blood my soul embrace” (Donne). The idea of faith explained in the concrete action of an embrace led me to ask how can I write like John Donne. I wanted to say stuff fully, deeply, in a way that it could find a life for its own in the mind without excess, and, as I say that, I feel myself start to ramble on. My words tripping over one another.

 

            I have to admit, though, I approached the task of the integration of the sacred text into the poetic voice with trepidation. Partly due to the ease to commit offense, be misunderstood or considered irrelevant when writing about the Biblical text, but also that people tend to approach the Biblical text differently than they do other texts.[1] When I allude to the Eden Narrative found in Genesis 2:4b-3:24, readers do not tend to see a narrative radically challenging the norms of its time;[2] rather, readers tend to see a Biblical text. Not an ancient text or even a literature text. A Biblical text covered in ideologies it has collected over time like a snow ball rolling down a hill and turning into the base of a snowman. The original snow ball hidden and now, hard to access. But incorporating the Biblical text into poetry is not a simple task of finding the original snow ball and then, effectively, throwing it. For the additional material added to the snow ball to turn it into a snowman is part of what can make adding the Biblical text to the poetic voice so interesting.

 

            Furthermore, the relationship between a text and its readers is one I wanted to preserve.  I wanted to allow for the special connection a believer has with a sacred text and in a way to nourish and develop it, but I also wanted to invite readers into the text to experience it as a story—a raw expression of humanity, a cultural artifact, an ancient relic and so on. In a way it felt akin to the task of Meir Sternberg and Menakhem Perry, which finds its most complete expression in Sternberg’s publication of The Poetics of Biblical Narrative: Ideological Literature and the Drama of Reading, where they aimed to integrate the critical work of the linguist, literary critic, historian, theologian, anthropologist, and so on all under the guise of reading the Bible as literature.[3] The difference being Sternberg and Perry were approaching the text to discover what it meant and how it developed meaning in the life of its readers. My concern was slightly, though arguably not, different than Sternberg. The difference being my intent for the poetic expression of a sacred text verses the sacred or academic community reading of a text. But these are not necessarily opposing tasks. How we read texts dramatically impacts how we use texts.

 

            Putting aside the complexity of integrating the Biblical text into poetry from a technical standpoint (what is it and how do we use it), another factor leading to my trepidation was, also in general relating to the task of writing or speaking, do more words need to be said? With the Bible able to stand quite competently on its own and the multitude of voices that echo the words of the Biblical text already, why do more words need to be added? What more could be, can be said?

 

            Then, I stumbled across the poetry of Majken Johansson and I was hooked. The simplicity and beauty struck me as writer. I wanted more.

 

            And that the sun
            which has shone beautifully all day
            should not set on my anger
            he dandles me on his knee
            and lets me
            finish swearing.

 

            Then he kisses me
            sweet and happy again (Johansson).

 

She finds the place where her life and the Biblical text meet and introduces that to the reader of her poem. In the above example from her poem Child of a King, she connects her life to Isaiah 66:12.[4] And I find myself, as a reader, “sweet and happy again” wanting to live and create a space in my life that allows the loving warmth and the kind heart of determined joy I had found in her voice. To not write to say something, to write to create something—to help cultivate, at least for me, even as cliché as it might sound, a life worth living. Johansson, a Swedish poet, who attempted suicide, struggled with alcoholism, faced the suicide of her other half, and the other daily tasks of living life that we all have reminded me that the point where a text and my life meet contains a story and it is that story that keeps these old words new (Holmén). For in Johansson’s poetry I saw hope that I too could say something. What I say might not have much value in the world around but sometimes it is just the task of allowing my mind to see and hear my thoughts that is enough as I look to understand, develop, make sense of and live my own personal narrative.

 

            Not only my own personal narrative but also the community narrative. Often when reading the writing of other writers and interreacting with other writers, I feel ostracized as though I am stepping on their turf.  Or what I liked best about her poetry was how it pulled me into the community narrative and made me think, in some indescribable way, I had a voice too.

 

            Therefore, emboldened by the example of Johansson, I tentatively set forth on my journey to become a poet of the text. While I understood that most of the interaction between the sacred text and the poetic voice is born out of the maturing relationship between the two, I also knew there was much to be gained by examining the relationships that other authors have with the text that shows up in their writing, and, after all, this is supposed to be an essay about form.

 

            To begin, part of what is appealing about Donne or even Johansson as well as others is how familiar their use of the Biblical text feels. I seem to remember a similar type of association. The connection here is to the text itself. Donne feels like Paul connecting the Old Testament narratives of Adam with Christ in Romans 5 or 1 Corinthians 15.[5] Or a Gospel writer illustrating how the Old Testament text comes alive in Christ. Johansson, in her poem Talk About, weaves 1 Corinthians 14:11, portions of Psalm 19, Amazing Grace, and even (possibly) hints at the Disciples prayer in a deliciously tasting ending translated by Johannes Göransson:

 

            I sing about what I live through where I live in what

            I lived in heaven (Johansson).

 

Notice specifically the location of “what” and how that tends to pull the pleasures of heaven into where she lives now. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10b ESV). Also, by leaving the “what” on the previous line, the last line, a declarative statement, is prevented from having the appearance of a question. Furthermore, the change in tense, on the last line, is most telling and hints at the progression of the narrative found in the poem. Or, there is a sense in which the poem ends at the beginning of the narrative. And, possibly, by bringing the reader back to the beginning (of the narrative not, necessarily, the poem), the tension between trying to “talk about”, “translate” paradise to another person and do so in way that is not a meaningless word or clanging symbol is maintained, and similar to Child of the King, she takes a text, specifically 1 Corinthians 14:11 in Talk About, and embodies how that text meets her life in the poem. Her song, what “talks and talks and talks” is her restored sight and a throat no longer controlled by the alcohol, “the etymological root of: redeemed” (Johansson).

 

            Another Pauline aspect is how she integrates her discussion of Psalm 19 to help explain Paul’s 1 Corinthians 14. In a way, and if Romans 10 wasn’t such a complicated minefield for the exegete, a reader might want to examine how Paul appropriates Psalm 19 in Romans 10 or even Romans 1 compared to how Johansson uses Psalm 19 to help explain 1 Corinthians 14:11. And Johansson’s poem provides an interesting bit of advice: let the text explain itself. Also, by using a text like Psalm 19, a text that speaks about the creation’s ability to speak for God, she introduces, by association, the concept of creation into the narrative, yet, in the poem’s narrative, the creative work being done is her. The work of redemption is the work of creation in Talk About all by her use of a couple of Biblical quotations. Johansson’s ability to speak and become a translatable voice is directly tied to the creative work being done in her being. Her life translates the text. Notice how she interweaves her redemptive creative work alongside creation’s ability to speak as noted in Psalm 19:

 

            and helpless do the evil that I don’t want

            “One night proclaims it to the other”

            that is to say that I sleep sober in my own bed.

            And: “one thing I know:

            that I, as blind, now see” (Johansson)

           

The language here is remarkable as faint echoes of the creation narrative can possibly be heard in the speaking voice of creation placed alongside the sacrificial work of Christ. And the image being made by the creative work which does now sing in the likeness of God is Johansson and does so, as she notes by comparison, as creation speaks. In a sense she has not only lived in heaven, for now she also is a participant in heaven’s creation, or, in the least, how earth can be more like heaven. And this gets even more interesting when considering the situation of the text itself, a creative work, which is working on turning symbols and sounds into meaningful words: how can I express something meaningful in a way that translates to another person?[6]

 

            Something of which I have kept referring to is how the poem serves as a meeting place between the poetic voice and the Biblical text. As noted earlier, what is interesting here is how these texts tend to sound, in their new homes within the poetic voice, much like they had originally in the Bible. Part of this is due to the nature of how the Bible uses Biblical material. But, the conversation concerning the relationship between the Old and New Testament or even how different books relate to one another can be quite complicated. Partly in determining if and what connections exists, and then further in understanding the nature of these interactions. One concern, especially of modern exegetes, has been the quality of the reading being provided by the New Testament author. Or, in other words, the New Testament writer is often scolded for taking the Old Testament text out of context. While this might sound kind of funny, it does illustrate some of the technical difficulties that might arise in quoting the Biblical text.

           

            That being said, there is a sense in which the meeting that occurs between the Biblical text and poet is similar to the meeting between the Old Testament text and the New Testament. As seen in Johansson’s poetry, the Biblical text is introduced in a way that comes alive in the voice of the poem. The creative redemptive act that restores sight and removes the drink speaks similarly as creation does, in a translated voice. The father and child of Isaiah 66:12 are not symbolic concepts but real characters in the poem. What is happening here is very similar to how the life of Christ is taking Old Testament texts and bringing them to life in the New Testament. Similar to how Christ becomes the long awaited messiah, son of David and so on, the character in Johansson’s poems becomes the new creative work. These are no longer just hollow words but now have a living location; the “Old Testament” words of stone are now being written on the heart, and it is this transformation that Johansson’s poetry captures so aptly and beautifully. The translation of text from stone to heart. That is one of the beauties of the use of quotation is the ability to make an idea come alive. There are two main features that help Johansson and Donne accomplish this in their poetry that might be worth noting at this point.

           

            The first is the use of concrete active imagery to explain the interaction. In Child of a King, she “dandles” on the father’s knee as she completes her angry swearing. The picture here of a fussy little girl trying to be calmed by a loving father gives the reader of the poem an active image to hold onto to. Also, by using an action, the interaction between the poet and the text comes alive. There is something happening. In Donne’s, A Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness, his soul embraces the blood of the last Adam. Not only does the active language of the poem give Donne’s poetry life, but the concrete language of an embrace gives readers struggling with complex ideas such as belief or faith something definite to hold onto. In each case the reader does not just leave with an interesting idea; instead, readers leave with a definite image further clarified in action.

 

            The second feature that prevents the Biblical citations/allusions from turning into boring sermons that speak without meaning is that the poem does not intend to explain the text; rather, the poem becomes the meeting place for the poet and text. Or while Johansson does in a way explain Psalm 19, 1 Corinthians 14:11, and so on in Talk About, the explanation is only provided, in a sense by the reader, to help explain the creative translative qualities of the redemptive work in her life. As, often it is the reader who must explain the text to make sense of the poem and this interactive quality allows the poem to invite the reader in rather than pushing the reader away. The reader becomes an engaged participant exegeting the connection between her life and the text.

 

            To further explain my point let me turn to one of my favorite stories, Dostoevsky’s Dream of the Ridiculous Man. In Dostoevsky’s short story, the ridiculous man becomes the, so to speak, first Adam and the narrative becomes a recreation, with some interesting caveats, of the Eden Narrative. Or similar to the examples found in Donne and Johansson, the ridiculous man finds the point where his life and the text meet and embodies it in the direct application of a text to a life. The originator of the fall becomes the ridiculous man but having experienced the pre-fall state and seen what human life could be, even though he is discounted as being ridiculous, he cannot be quiet.

 

            Now, as noted earlier, handling the Biblical text is a complicated task, and I, in writing, will need to be well aware of how my interaction with the text is understood and what it makes people think the text is, but it is also helpful to note the many different ways that linguist, literary critics, historians, anthropologist, theologians and so on interact with a text can also provide interesting insight into how the text can be portrayed in the poetic voice. How I use a text can benefit greatly from how I and others read a text. Or not only is how the Biblical text interacting with itself helpful fodder for determining how to incorporate the text into the poetic voice, but also the interactions readers have with the text can provide interesting insight.

 

            One interesting example that, in a way incorporates both of these components is William Blake’s Laocoön. Now, Blake’s Laocoön is a complicated piece that deserves its own paper, and there are a number of different Biblical appropriations that are worth noting, but one of the more interesting is an almost direct quote of Genesis 6:6 (found near the top center) except for a couple of slight modifications one of which is further emphasized by the transliteration of the Hebrew word adamah (ground or earth).[7] In Genesis 6:6 the Hebrew text uses the word ba’aretz (in the earth) instead of adamah to refer to the earth.[8] By introducing this subtle change, Blake not only introduces questions concerning distinctions between text and images, by arguably turning a text into an image, but he also introduces the familiar narrative from Genesis 2:7 of the Adam made out of the adamah into a scene foreshadowing the flood narrative in Genesis 6. And just as the Laocoön image serves as a reminder of the betrayal of image, so too does Blake’s appropriation and copy of a Biblical text. The destructive power of a copy contained by a slight modification of a Biblical text.

           

            Now, what Blake is saying or accomplishing by doing this will have to be left for another paper, but as for how Blake’s appropriation can contribute to one’s understanding of the incorporation of the Biblical text into the poetic voice, there are some interesting notes here to make. First, one of the discussions found in the scholarship of the Biblical text is the concern of source criticism. Or the idea that the Biblical text is, in part, the work of editors editing oral narratives into community texts. Similar concerns are associated with the study of the Ancient Greeks and other ancient texts. And it is interesting to note that in Blake’s Laocoön which is mostly made up of appropriated texts, Blake is more so acting as an editor rather than an author. Or there is an interesting shift that one might make in their mindset in the creation of texts that quote or allude to other texts. Instead of considering myself to be an author maybe consider myself to be an editor.

 

            Or, part of this discussion becomes an analysis about what words are and how they are used, and a reminder of how special, different and precise each word can be to the texts we create. And remembering that as writers we are all using the same thing (words) can be a freeing realization in the writing process. There is a sense, then, that we have to use the old, the cliché, the boring to communicate with meaning and it is in the editing of these items that we can have fun. There is something interesting about how words, ideas, can change, focus and enact so much of what it is that we are. That our minds process and think about words most loudly and the simple marking of them in the right order, place, and sound can mean so much more than words itself is particularly interesting and part of what brings so much joy into the writing process. Maybe, in the end, we all are mere editors, but I find that still exciting.

 

            Another interesting example along similar lines, of which I will quickly make note, is found in Hemingway’s A Clean, Well—Lighted Place. Toward the end, the older waiter reformulates the Disciples prayer into a prayer to nada. Not only does introducing the Biblical material into the narrative, coupled with the use of light and dark imagery invite a philosophical or ideological discussion into the text, it also modifies the tone from a contemplation concerning suicide to a question concerning what is life? And, almost in a Camus like formulation asks why live?

 

            Johansson’s personable message has stayed with me. I am glad I went looking for Poetik by Gunnar Ekelöf and instead found her poetry. Not just what she said but how she said it and, maybe more importantly, how she prepared to say it. But, in the end, with all the details pushed to the side, what matters most is that she did say it. And maybe that is the most important lesson of all, here, in my winding journey. I need to learn not only the joy of sharing words with other writers and great texts from the past but also to speak, to write. And when my words stumble, to pick them up, dust them off, and try again. As I look at the arduous task of adding or editing something new, I am reminded. It does not necessarily need to be new; more so, it needs to be real. Not a loud clanging symbol, prophetic insight, or even free cheeseburgers (well maybe sometimes), but, instead, defined by faith, hope, and love—a loving warmth and a determined joy.

 

                        Speak plainly, speak briefly, but mostly speak from the heart:

                        Carry the heart of humanity on your sleeve and mush it unto the page.

                        Make it messy. Make it tasty. But mostly let it bleed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

Blake, William. “Laocoön.” The William Blake Archive. blakearchive.org/work/laocoon 

 

Donne, John. “A Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness,” The Poetry Foundation.  www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44114/hymn-to-god-my-god-in-my-sickness

 

Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Short Stories of Dostoevsky. Edited by William Phillips. The Dial Press, 1946

 

Hemingway, Ernest, The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. The Modern Library, 1938.

 

Holmén, Gertude. “A Light Darkness.” The History of Nordic Women’s Literature. 2012,  nordicwomensliterature.net/2012/02/15/a-light-darkness/

 

Johansson, Majken. Omtal. Dikter. Bonnier, 1969.

 

Johansson, Majken, “Omtal (Talk About).” Swedish Poetry. trans. Johannes Göransson. P. 15,               www.e-magin.se/paper/sv5d7vx2/paper/1#/paper/sv5d7vx2/15

 

Johansson, Majken. “Från Magdala (Child of a King),” “A Light Darkness,” The History of Nordic Women’s Literature. trans. Gertrude Holmén. 2012,  nordicwomensliterature.net/2012/02/15/a-light-darkness/

 

Mettinger, Tryggve N. D.  The Eden Narrative: A Literary and Religio: Historical Study of Genesis 2-3. Eisenbrauns, 2007.

 

Sternberg, Meier. The Poetics of Biblical Narrative: Ideological Literature and the Drama of Reading. Indiana University Press, 1987.

 

The Bible. English Standard Version, 2011.

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[1] For the purposes of this essay I have chosen to focus on the Biblical text. Not to say other important religious text do not betray the same complexities or difficulties in study, but that there is a sense in which these conversations when allowed to focus might bear more productive fruit. Even though the idea that the focus on the Biblical text is a “focus” of sorts is also somewhat misleading as it is a rather large and complex text.

[2] Concerning the relationship between the Eden Narrative and other texts of its time see especially chapters 4-7 of Tryggve N. D. Mettinger’s The Eden Narrative: A Literary and Religio: Historical Study of Genesis 2-3.

[3] As Sternberg points out, what is meant by reading the Bible as literature has a variation of definitions of which not all does Sternberg find accurate or meaningful or useful to the reading of the text. See specially the introduction for a nice summarization.

[4] Verse is quoted and cited in or at least near the poem. Also, note I have a tendency in the paper to take “I” as specifically referring to her, and there is the possibility that she is not the “I” and maybe a distinction should be made between the author of the poem and the “I” of the poem, but the devotional quality of her voice pulls me in so that "I" couldn’t help myself.

[5] As this is not an essay discussing who the author of Romans or 1 Corinthians is, I do not intend to fully address those concerns here and will stick with the commonly known association to the Apostle Paul.

[6] One might argue this is what this essay is about and that I could have just saved the reader some time by telling them to read this poem. I do think that might have been a better use of one’s time.

[7] The other is the addition of “of the female” into the text.

[8] What Hebrew or English text would Blake have using is an important question to consider here. Would the English text have been his own translation or is he citing an English translation of his day to further emphasize the theme of copy? At this point, I must admit that I am drawing conclusions based on the texts I have available to me and do recognize that I might be drawing an incorrect conclusion. Note the text comparison comes from the WTT.