Friday, March 26, 2010

Poetry Friday


Holy week is almost here, and I am reflecting on changed lives ....

The Convert
by G. K. Chesterton

After one moment when I bowed my head
And the whole world turned over and came upright,
And I came out where the old road shone white.
I walked the ways and heard what all men said,
Forests of tongues, like autumn leaves unshed,
Being not unlovable but strange and light;
Old riddles and new creeds, not in despite
But softly, as men smile about the dead

The sages have a hundred maps to give
That trace their crawling cosmos like a tree,
They rattle reason out through many a sieve
That stores the sand and lets the gold go free:
And all these things are less than dust to me
Because my name is Lazarus and I live.

from The Collected Poems of G. K. Chesterton (1927)

~~~~~

The Poetry Friday round up is at The Drift Record

4 comments:

jama said...

What a radiant poem. Thanks for sharing this today, Karen!!

Beck said...

That made me cry with joy.
This line:
And the whole world turned over and came upright
so much reflects my own conversion experience. I loved it.

Sara said...

I love "Forests of tongues, like autumn leaves unshed,
Being not unlovable but strange and light" As Jama said, radiant!

Anonymous said...

I am a new reader of your blog.
Lovely poem!
I just read your (and your husband's) conversion stories.
Wow. I was moved to tears!
Congratulations to both of you!