Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Coinsidence, I Think Not

Sunday was my ward conference and the stake president was the last one to speak. He quoted a poem at the end of his talk. As I listened to just a portion of the poem I wrote down the title not remembering or hearing the author's name, so that I could read it later. Then later this week as I was going through more of the poems I was assigned to read there it was, the poem that I heard a day earlier in church, The Lamb, by Blake.
As I read the poem I pictured a mother telling this poem to a young child as a bed time story. I love how it brings up such huge questions, cosmic questions, and yet its meant to be understood by all ages. I also love how a lot of the examples or questions that are presented can be taken in a personal childlike way. You could replace the word lamb for child or son. Every child is a child of God and its a very easy way to associate that principle with this poem by replacing the word. It brings God to a level that the reader can understand. The poem compares Him with us mere mortals.
In a way I could see this poem being taken from Psalms in the Bible. I think it would fit very nicely. After all it was meant to be song.

2 comments:

  1. When I read this one, it seemed so familiar to me, but I couldn't place where I had heard it before. But when you mentioned in class that it was read in your ward conference, I remembered hearing it in a talk at church.

    I too, loved the deep and important questions answered or addressed by this poem, and the simplicity with which they are answered. It is definitely one of those poems that you can just listen to and pick up on key elements. Sometimes you have to read, listen and see the poem many times just to grasp the theme, but this one is forthright and plain, yet beautiful and that is why I liked it.

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  2. I didn't really love this poem at first but I've thought about it a lot the last week. I've gone back and reread it and it has really grown on me.

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