Parables and Poems

Spirit leading the mind. Body yet a vessel. Soul devoid of nothing. Do you like this poet? I've said I'm just Best Poem of Parable Poetry. Divine Intervention I am but a vessel, seamless without a leak. Read the full of Divine Intervention. Delivering Poems Around The World. If only those few were amended, I would give it a higher rating. I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review- thank you! Feb 17, Nick rated it it was amazing. A new take on an old theme. The truths of the parable is absolutely preserved, nothing ignored or watered down, but the re-write into poetry give it fresh life, a 'sit up and take notice' sort of thing.

And every poem finishes with a challenging application - never enough to hear the word, or even understand the word although this book certainly helps that , but the applications help us to put Jesus' words into practice in our everyday lives. Apr 04, S. Daisy rated it liked it Recommended to S. This is a collection of 37 poems based on the parables of Jesus.

They are presented in chronological order, and they each cite the Bible verses that they are gleaned from in case anybody cares to look them up, which I found useful. Frankly, this book was not what I was expecting. I was expecting a book of serious poems written for a mature audience, poems that were intelligent and thought-provoking.

Instead, this book reads like Dr.

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Seuss, and the language is clearly gauged more toward children. Sometimes you could tell the author struggled to find rhyming words. So often, they don't rhyme completely. About four out of five verses in some of the poems seem to rhyme, and then the next verse will not at all.

Now as he rode, he saw among the crowd a man who was from the desert like himself and his heart swelled with joy, and he cried out to him with a shout:. What city of the heart's desire is this? What race of lavish hosts? And he who was also of the desert replied not. He only smiled and slightly shook his head. And the procession passed on. They say the jackal and the mole Drink from the self-same stream Where the lion comes to drink. And they say the eagle and the vulture Dig their beaks into the same carcass, And are at peace, one with the other, In the presence of the dead thing.

O love, whose lordly hand Has bridled my desires, And raised my hunger and my thirst To dignity and pride, Let not the strong in me and the constant Eat the bread or drink the wine That tempt my weaker self. Let me rather starve, And let my heart parch with thirst, And let me die and perish, Ere I stretch my hand To a cup you did not fill, Or a bowl you did not bless. They told me that in a forest among the mountains lives a young man in solitude who once was a king of a vast country beyond the Two Rivers. And they also said that he, of his own will, had left his throne and the land of his glory and come to dwell in the wilderness.

And I said, "I would seek that man, and learn the secret of his heart; for he who renounces a kingdom must needs be greater than a kingdom. On that very day I went to the forest where he dwells. And I found him sitting under a white cypress, and in his hand a reed as if it were a sceptre.

And I greeted him even as I would greet a king. And he turned to me and said gently, "What would you in this forest of serenity? Seek you a lost self in the green shadows, or is it a home-coming in your twilight? And I answered, "I sought but you—for I fain would know that which made you leave a kingdom for a forest. And he said, "Brief is my story, for sudden was the bursting of the bubble.

One day as I sat at a window in my palace, my chamberlain and an envoy from a foreign land were walking in my garden. And as they approached my window, the lord chamberlain was speaking of himself and saying, 'I am like the king; I have a thirst for strong wine and a hunger for all games of chance. And like my lord the king I have storms of temper. But in a few minutes they returned, and this time the lord chamberlain was speaking of me, and he was saying, 'My lord the king is like myself—a good marksman; and like me he loves music and bathes thrice a day.

After a moment he added, "On the eve of that day I left my palace with but my garment, for I would no longer be ruler over those who assume my vices and attribute to me their virtues. And he said, "Nay, my friend, you knocked at the gate of my silences and received but a trifle. For who would not leave a kingdom for a forest where the seasons sing and dance ceaselessly?

Many are those who have given their kingdom for less than solitude and the sweet fellowship of aloneness. Countless are the eagles who descend from the upper air to live with moles that they may know the secrets of the earth. There are those who renounce the kingdom of dreams that they may not seem distant from the dreamless.

And those who renounce the kingdom of nakedness and cover their souls that others may not be ashamed in beholding truth uncovered and beauty unveiled. And greater yet than all of these is he who renounces the kingdom of sorrow that he may not seem proud and vainglorious. Then rising he leaned upon his reed and said, "Go now to the great city and sit at its gate and watch all those who enter into it and those who go out. And see that you find him who, though born a king, is without kingdom; and him who though ruled in flesh rules in spirit—though neither he nor his subjects know this; and him also who but seems to rule yet is in truth slave of his own slaves.

After he had said these things he smiled on me, and there were a thousand dawns upon his lips. Then he turned and walked away into the heart of the forest. And I returned to the city, and I sat at its gate to watch the passersby even as he had told me. And from that day to this numberless are the kings whose shadows have passed over me and few are the subjects over whom my shadow has passed. Four slaves stood fanning an old queen who was asleep upon her throne.

And she was snoring. And upon the queen's lap a cat lay purring and gazing lazily at the slaves. The first slave spoke, and said, "How ugly this old woman is in her sleep. See her mouth droop; and she breathes as if the devil were choking her. Then the cat said, purring, "Not half so ugly in her sleep as you in your waking slavery. And the second slave said, "You would think sleep would smooth her wrinkles instead of deepening them.

She must be dreaming of something evil. And the third slave said, "Perhaps she is seeing the procession of all those that she has slain.

Comments about Parable Poetry

And the cat purred, "Aye, she sees the procession of your forefathers and your descendants. And the fourth slave said, "It is all very well to talk about her, but it does not make me less weary of standing and fanning. And the cat purred, "You shall be fanning to all eternity; for as it is on earth so it is in heaven. And the second slave said, "What if she should wake, and find her crown fallen!

She would surely slay us. And the cat purred, "Daily from your birth she has slain you and you know it not. And the third slave said, "Yes, she would slay us and she would call it making sacrifice to the gods. And the fourth slave silenced the others, and softly he picked up the crown and replaced it, without waking her, on the old queen's head. And after a while the old queen woke, and she looked about her and yawned.

Then she said, "Me thought I dreamed, and I saw four caterpillars chased by a scorpion around the trunk of an ancient oaktree.

I like not my dream. Then she closed her eyes and went to sleep again. And the four slaves went on fanning her. And the cat purred, "Fan on, fan on, stupids. You fan but the fire that consumes you. Thus sings the She-Dragon that guards the seven caves by the sea:. His thundering roar shall fill the earth with fear, and the flames of his nostrils shall set the sky afire.

At the eclipse of the moon we shall be wedded, and at the eclipse of the sun I shall give birth to a Saint George, who shall slay me. In my youth I once visited a saint in his silent grove beyond the hills; and as we were conversing upon the nature of virtue a brigand came limping wearily up the ridge. When he reached the grove he knelt down before the saint and said, "O saint, I would be comforted! My sins are heavy upon me. And the saint replied, "I too am a murderer, and in my ears cries the blood of many men.

Then the brigand stood up and gazed at the saint, and there was a strange look in his eyes. And when he left us he went skipping down the hill. And I turned to the saint and said, "Wherefore did you accuse yourself of uncommitted crimes? See you not that this man went away no longer believing in you? And the saint answered, "It is true he no longer believes in me. But he went away much comforted. At that moment we heard the brigand singing in the distance, and the echo of his song filled the valley with gladness.

In my wanderings I once saw upon an island a man-headed, iron-hoofed monster who ate of the earth and drank of the sea incessantly.

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And for a long while I watched him. Then I approached him and said, "Have you never enough; is your hunger never satisfied and your thirst never quenched? And he answered saying, "Yes, I am satisfied, nay, I am weary of eating and drinking; but I am afraid that tomorrow there will be no more earth to eat and no more sea to drink. This came to pass. He took off his crown and his royal raiment, and stood in the centre of the room thinking of himself, now the all-powerful ruler of Byblus.

Suddenly he turned; and he saw stepping out of the silver mirror which his mother had given him, a naked man. Then the naked man said, "If you were still more noble, you would not be king. The naked man looked down upon him.

Then he took up the crown and with tenderness replaced it upon the king's bent head. And the king roused, and straightway he looked into the mirror. And he saw there but himself crowned. Once , high above a pasture, where a sheep and a lamb were grazing, an eagle was circling and gazing hungrily down upon the lamb. And as he was about to descend and seize his prey, another eagle appeared and hovered above the sheep and her young with the same hungry intent. Then the two rivals began to fight filling the sky with their fierce cries.

Is not the vast sky large enough for both of them? Pray, my little one, pray in your heart that God may make peace between your winged brothers. One nightfall a man travelling on horseback toward the sea reached an inn by the roadside.

He dismounted, and confident in man and night like all riders toward the sea, he tied his horse to a tree beside the door and entered into the inn. In the morning the man awoke, and discovered that his horse was stolen. And he grieved for his horse, and that a man had found it in his heart to steal. And the third man said, "It is stupid at best to travel to the sea on horseback.

Then the traveller was much astonished. At last he cried, "My friends, because my horse is stolen, you have hastened one and all to tell me my faults and my shortcomings. But strange, not one word of reproach have you uttered about the man who stole my horse. Four poets were sitting around a bowl of punch that stood on a table.