Religion
Christ and Orpheus
From Sonnets (1864)
What means this vain ideal of our Lord,
With ' Orpheus ' underwritten? Couldst thou see
With eyes of faith the Incarnate Deity,
That faith a nobler title would accord
Than this, whereat no Christian fancy warms;
Thou would'st not score the mythic harper's name
Beneath the fallen head and outstretch'd arms,
Nor seem to blink our dear Redeemer's claim
To His own cognizance and proper fame;
The sorrowing manhood of the King of kings,
The double nature, and the death of shame,
The tomb — the rising — are substantial things,
Irrelevant to Orpheus; What hath made
Thy wisdom match Messias with a shade?
Cite this poem
MLA
Turner, Charles Tennyson. “Christ and Orpheus.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/turner_ct/127/.
Chicago
Turner, Charles Tennyson. “Christ and Orpheus.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/turner_ct/127/.
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