In rich poetic language, ‘Ash Wednesday’ presents the spiritual struggle of an alienated individual lacking faith in decayed modern culture.
The significance of religion is evident through the poem's title; an important holy day in the Christian religion is called 'Ash Wednesday.' Religion plays a crucial role in the spiritual meaning the speaker longs for. The Christian ideas of sin, repentance, forgiveness, and redemption are central to the poem. Eliot uses rich Christian symbolism and imagery while referring to the bible, book of common prayer, lord's Prayer, Saint John of the Cross, and Anglo-Catholic religious rituals.
Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
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90/100
‘The Manger Throne’ is a lyrical religious poem that envisions the nativity scene as a moment of harmony between the heavens and earth.
Religion is the central theme of Dix's poem as it draws on Christian symbolism and scripture to imagine the birth of Jesus Christ. In many ways, the poem focuses on the spiritual significance and power that the newborn child will come to represent. They are a "new Power" and described as the "Mighty One" whose coming was foretold by prophets, lending it theological importance. It also plays a part in bridging the distance between heaven and earth, uniting them in a peace that is associated with the Messiah's role as a savior.
Like silver lamps in a distant shrine,
The stars are sparkling bright
The bells of the city of God ring out,
For the Son of Mary is born to-night.
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89/100
‘Anorexic’ by Eavan Boland presents a woman determined to destroy her physical body through starvation while alluding to the original sin.
In ‘Anorexic,’ readers can find a number of Biblical allusions. For instance, the poem begins with the remark: “Flesh is heretic.” This echoes the concept of the original sin as described in the Christian Bible. Also, terms such as “half-truths” (one of the features of evil), “renounce,” “rib” (Adam’s rib cage), “sinless,” “fall,” and “forked dark” present a religious/Christian angle while interpreting the text.
Flesh is heretic.
My body is a witch.
I am burning it.
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87/100
The ‘Hymn to Aphrodite’ by Sappho is an ancient lyric in which Sappho begs for Aphrodite’s help in managing her turbulent love life.
One of the most unique features of 'Hymn to Aphrodite' is Sappho's seemingly close relationship with Aphrodite, who seems to come to help Sappho frequently. While Sappho uses formulaic language to turn her lyric into a formal prayer, her relationship with the goddess is akin to that of a mother to a child, which is only ever seen in other greek poems where a divinity is the parent of a character in the poem.
Beautiful-throned, immortal Aphrodite,
Daughter of Zeus, beguiler, I implore thee
Weigh me not down with weariness and anguish,
O thou most holy!
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85/100
‘Caedmon’s Hymn’ was sung by a lay worker, Caedmon, from the estate of the monastery of Whitby when the voice of God came to him.
Now we must praise heaven-kingdom's Guardian,
The Measurer’s might and his mind-plans,
The work of the Glory-Father, when he of wonders of every one
Eternal Lord, the beginning established
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85/100
‘Nightpiece’ by James Joyce unfolds as a beguiling but depressing vision of a nearly star-less night as it envelops the sky above the speaker.
Religious imagery abounds throughout the poem, as the scene is suffused with allusions to Catholicism. This leads to manifestations of angels within the blinking light of the stars and a comparison to the enshrouding dark with the thick smoke of burning incense. All of which adds both a sublime and elusively suffocating or oppressive atmosphere.
Gaunt in gloom,
The pale stars their torches,
Enshrouded, wave.
Ghostfires from heaven's far verges faint illume,
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85/100
‘Dream of the Rood’ is a religious poem that presents a dream in which the cross talks about its journey from a tree to the crucifixion.
What I wish to say of the best of dreams,
what came to me in the middle of the night
after the speech-bearers lie biding their rest!
It seemed to me that I saw the greatest tree
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85/100
‘The Tyger’ is a well-known poem by William Blake. It explores the dark and destructive side of God and his creation.
Religion is a central theme in 'The Tyger,' as Blake raises questions about the nature and origins of the divine. He questions whether the same creator who made the gentle and innocent lamb also created the fearsome and dangerous tiger.
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
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85/100
‘The Windhover’ is an incredibly important poem that Hopkins considered to be his best. It uses symbolism to speak about God and faith.
'The Windhover' can also express the speaker's faith and devotion to God. The poem is filled with religious imagery and suggests a deep connection between the bird's movements and the divine.
I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
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85/100
‘Yes, Holy Be Thy Resting Place’ is one of Emily Brontë’s poems that visits the softly sentimental side of her poetic talent.
Religion is a prominent theme in 'Holy be thy resting place' as it speaks to the idea of an afterlife and the role of angels and heaven in that realm. The poem suggests that even though the speaker may no longer be able to watch over their loved one, they have faith that guardian angels will be present to watch over them and that heaven itself will bestow a beam of glory upon them.
Yes, holy be thy resting place
Wherever thou may'st lie;
The sweetest winds breathe on thy face,
The softest of the sky.
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84/100
‘A Hymn to God the Father’ by John Donne is the speaker’s prayer to God that he be forgiven for all his wretched sins.
John Donne's poem deeply engages with the theme of religion. The poem serves as a prayerful reflection on the speaker's relationship with God and the tenets of Christian faith. It wrestles with notions of sin, forgiveness, and divine mercy, central to religious belief. The speaker acknowledges his transgressions and seeks forgiveness, demonstrating a profound religious conscience. References to God's Son and the plea for His presence evoke the Christian concept of salvation. Through its introspective tone and intimate address to God, the poem embodies a religious sensibility, exploring the complexities of human spirituality and the quest for a harmonious connection with the divine.
Wilt thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt thou forgive that sin, through which I run,
And do run still, though still I do deplore?
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82/100
‘Burnt Norton’ explores the philosophical concepts of time, spirituality, and transcendence, focusing on the human quest for higher meaning.
'Burnt Norton' engages deeply with religion as it plays a vital role in reaching spirituality and meaning the poem centers on. It was written after Eliot's conversion to Anglicanism in 1927 and thus is influenced by his experience of attaining spirituality. It connects spiritual transcendence with divine connection while contemplating sin, redemption, and salvation amidst the dwindling faith in desolate modern times. The poem is packed with religious allusions, biblical myths, and symbolism.
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
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82/100
The Thirty Pilgrims in ‘The Canterbury Tales’ and the host belong to diverse ranks and professions representing the contemporaneous society.
ONCE ON A TIME, as old tales tell to us,
There was a duke whose name was Theseus;
Of Athens he was lord and governor,
And in his time was such a conqueror
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80/100
‘God’s Light-Houses’ by Helen Hunt Jackson is a visually stunning poem that muses over the various types of light that guide maritime travelers and the planets alike.
As with many of Jackson's works, religion plays an important role in the poem. Here, it takes the form of a faith that god will "save his mariners," guiding them through their lives on earth much in the same way he lights the way for the planets via the stars.
When night falls on the earth, the sea
From east to west lies twinkling bright
With shining beams from beacons high
Which flash afar a friendly light.
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80/100
‘Marina’ presents the joy of the spiritual awakening of a lost individual, offering hope to the readers living in a desolate modern world.
Religious awakening is the central thematic concern of the poem, which intertwines various other themes. Marina symbolizes religious awakening and her memories - yearning for that pure and sublime state. The poem culminates with evocative imagery of the father rediscovering her lost daughter - Marina symbolizing the moment of religious awakening. Religious awakening acts as an interconnecting feeling, intertwining the poem's fragmentary imagery. The interconnectedness of fragmentary images has no parallel in any of Eliot's pre-conversion poems.
What seas what shores what grey rocks and what islands
What water lapping the bow
And scent of pine and the woodthrush singing through the fog
What images return
