Hilaire Belloc
‘… the controversy was ended by His Lordship, who wrote to the Incumbent ordering him to remove from the Church all Illegal Ornaments at once, and especially a Female Figue with a Child.’
When that the Eternal deigned to look
On us poor folk to make us free
He chose a Maiden, whom He took
From Nazareth in Galilee;
Since when the Islands of the Sea,
The Field, the City, and the Wild
Proclaim aloud triumphantly
A Female Figure with a Child.
These Mysteries profoundly shook
The Reverend Doctor Leigh, D.D.,
Who therefore stuck into a Nook
(Or Niche) of his Incumbency
An Image filled with majesty
To represent the Undefiled,
The Universal Mother— She—
A Female Figure with a Child.
His Bishop, having read a book
Which proved as plain as plain could be
That all the Mutts had been mistook
Who talked about a Trinity
Wrote off at once to Doctor Leigh
In manner very far from mild,
And said: “Remove them instantly!
A Female Figure with a Child!”
Envoi
Prince Jesus, in mine Agony,
Permit me, broken and defiled,
Through blurred and glazing eyes to see
A Female Figure with a Child.
May 20, 2008 at 8:31 pm
You missed the Envoi!
Prince Jesus, in mine Agony,
Permit me, broken and defiled,
Through blurred and glazing eyes to see
A Female Figure with a Child.
May 21, 2008 at 8:49 am
I did! And I love it best! Well, read two posts up to see why things like this would happen… Many thanks anyway, I changed it.
May 21, 2008 at 6:35 pm
This is a marvellous poem – one of HB’s very best. Thank you, Notburga, for reminding me of it!
Bª
November 8, 2010 at 4:41 pm
I love this poem; thank you for posting it.
Could you check the title? It’s a ballade, with an “e”. Ballads are a quite different form.
November 8, 2010 at 9:11 pm
To say nothing of figues, Mr Thurman.
🙂