Sunday, April 03, 2005

Poems of Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

Two poems by Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II):

Over This, Your White Grave
Over this, your white grave
the flowers of life in white--
so many years without you--
how many have passed out of sight?
Over this your white grave
covered for years, there is a stir
in the air, something uplifting
and, like death, beyond comprehension.
Over this your white grave
oh, mother, can such loving cease?
for all his filial adoration
a prayer:
Give her eternal peace--
[Krakow, spring 1939]

Actor
So many grew round me, through me,
from my self, as it were.
I became a channel, unleashing a force
called man.
Did not the others crowding in, distort
the man that I am?
Being each of them, always imperfect,
myself to myself too near,
he who survives in me, can he ever
look at himself without fear?


I had heard earlier that the Holy Father had passed away. Please keep him in your prayers.

5 comments:

Jessica said...

I don't like these poems at all. I think they suck! Couldn't you have picked a different poet or something?

el said...

The point was to put up something for the passing of the pope.

I found these randomly. I put them up because one is about the passing of his mother and also when he was younger he was an actor. I did look for others, but its hard to find stuff for free.

el said...

I was just looking at your comment again.

You realize that Karol Wojtyla was Pope John Paul II's name before he became pope?

That's why I put up those poems. I was trying to show his appreciation of art. Other than that your poetry would probably be all that I would put on my blog.

Jessica said...

Like I told you on the phone, I DID realize that. I just think the poems aren't very good. Actually not good at all. People can write bad poetry no matter who the hell they are.

el said...

I know. I wasn't stating that the poetry was good because of him being the pope. He wasn't a higher being or anything. Like I stated before, I put it up to show his appreciation of art, which I thought was interesting.

He was a religious leader, that doesn't make him an expert on all. I'm not that dense.

I was just clarifying that you knew that the two names were the same because you asked why I didn't put up a different poet. To have picked a different poet would have been beside the point of the entire post.