Poetry of the Cross: Cowper's Grave

From Elizabeth Barrett Browning about another British poet, William Cowper, whose sad life I’ve written about here and here. The short story behind this poem it that William Cowper was a believer and poet who wrote beautiful hymns of hope, but who suffered from some kind of mental illness and lived much of his life in hopelessness. In his melancholy episodes, which were long-lasting, he was convinced that he had been forsaken by God. Cowper’s Grave is Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetic reflection on William Cowper’s life and afterlife.

 

It is about Cowper, yes, but more than that, this is a poem of the cross of Christ.

 

 

The Poems of Elizabeth Barrett Browning …By Elizabeth (Barrett) Browning, Henry Theodore Tuckerman

My favorite lines of this poem ? Right here:

Yea, once, Immanuel’s orphaned cry, his universe hath shaken—
It went up single, echoless, “My God, I am forsaken!”

It went up from the Holy’s lips, amid his lost creation,
That of the lost, no son should use those words of desolation…

*Explaining the hares: Cowper had two wild hares on his property who grew tame enough to eat from his hand.

More Poetry of the Cross

• Dorothy at Field Stone Cottage: O Dearest Jesus
• Brandon of Siris: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
• Update: Rosemary of Seasonings of the Heart: Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended?

You are welcome to join me in my celebration of Poetry of the Cross if you wish. Just post a cross-centered poem any day of this week (or every day of this week) and send me the link to your poem. I’ll link back to your poem in the next Poetry of the Cross post.

Comments

[rosemary]

I'm finding these poems of the cross very heart-stirring.

I posted another today: http://www.seasoningsoftheheart.com/poetry-of-the-cross-ah-holy-jesus-how-hast-thou-offended/

[rebecca]

Added it! Thanks for participating. :)

[Brandon]

I don't know if I've come across this poem before, despite like EBB's poetry (and being interested in Cowper). Thanks for posting it!

[rebecca]

I've known this poem existed for a while now, but I'd only seen pieces of it quoted, never the whole thing. A year ago I searched for it online and came up empty, but this time, I got the link to it in this book at Google Book Search. I was pretty happy to finally be able to read the whole thing.

[Jon]

Thanks for posting this poem.
I was searching for it after hearing a sermon by DA Carson where he reads part of the closing two verse's at the end of the sermon.

[rebecca]

Ah yes... a Don Carson sermon is where I first heard it, too.

[elise]

Thanks for sharing! I'm also here because I heard D.A. Carson reference it during a conference I attended this weekend. It's nice that he is turning us back to poetry:)

[rebecca]

Welcome Elise!