Tag Archives: Good Friday

The Cross Speaks

By Robin Bates | Published: April 6, 2023

The 9th century poem “Dream of the Rood” tells the crucifixion from the cross’s point of view.

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What a Death to See God Die

By Robin Bates | Published: April 1, 2021

Donne’s poem about Good Friday uses astronomical metaphors as he asks God to open his heart.

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Strike My Heart So the Tears Will Flow

By Robin Bates | Published: April 18, 2019

Good Friday In her poem “Good Friday,” Christina Rossetti laments that she responds to Christ’s death like a stone, not a faithful sheep. Why can’t she be like the women who wept at the foot of the cross, or Peter who wept for his betrayal, or the sun and the moon that hid their faces? […]

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The Bloody Flesh Our Only Food

By Robin Bates | Published: March 30, 2018

I share a Good Friday poem by T. S. Eliot and a Passover poem by Norman Finkelstein.

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Only after Pain Comes Life

By Robin Bates | Published: May 14, 2017

For Mother’s Day, here’s a Madeleine L’Engle poem about Jesus’s mother experiencing the crucifixion and then the resurrection. In it we see both the joys and the heartbreak that come with an unconditional mother’s love.

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O Christ Who Drives the Furrow Straight

By Robin Bates | Published: April 14, 2017

John Masefield’s poem “Everlasting Mercy” (1911) uses powerful fertility image to capture the spirit of Christian redemption in this Good Friday poem.

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The Cross Recounts the Crucifixion

By Robin Bates | Published: April 3, 2015

“Dream of the Rood” tells the story of the crucifixion from the cross’ point of view.

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the dance of Jesus music holds the air

By Robin Bates | Published: April 20, 2014

These Lucille Clifton poems usher us from Lent into Easter.

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Here Is No Water but Only Rock

By Robin Bates | Published: April 18, 2014

Dry rocks have functioned as images of spiritual desolation throughout the history of Good Friday poetry.

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