A Note
As I’ve mentioned before, I occasionally enjoy dabbling in poetry—especially sonnets. Writing them doesn’t always come easily. Sometimes the words flow naturally, like a stream finding its way. Other times, it’s a slow, sometimes frustrating process of refining each word and phrase. This particular piece falls into the latter category. I’ve been revising it since Christmas, tweaking and polishing until it felt just right. Perhaps that’s simply part of the craft.
This sonnet is inspired by Epiphany and draws from various influences and sources such as Dante Alighieri’s Paradiso with its ascent through the celestial spheres, John Hopkins classic hymn We Three Kings of Orient Are, C.S. Lewis’s Out of the Silent Planet, J.R.R. Tolkien’s luminous Mythopoeia along with the music of Eru Ilúvatar in The Silmarillion, and
’s poetry grounded in the church calendar. Each of these has shaped my imagination and, in turn, this piece.I hope it invites you to pause and reflect on the wonder of the Magi drawn by the heavens to offer their gifts to the humble King.
Blessed Epiphany! Don’t forget to chalk your door tomorrow—wise men still seek Him.
An Epiphany Sonnet
From Orient afar, the wise men came to see,
Bearing their treasures as an act of love,
Drawn by a hymn from vast eternity,
A song that tuned their hearts to Jerusalem above.
The Word before all words, whose love is King,
Wooed stars to sing and spheres to kindly shine,
Unbinding the dark where ancient shadows cling,
And charting hearts through heaven’s grand design.
In Bethlehem, they knelt before the Bread of Life,
Within the manger’s humble, hollowed hold.
The silent planet heard its Maker’s cry,
As heaven’s light revealed the One foretold.
So let us, too, in wisdom’s light arise,
And seek the Love that beckons through midnight skies.
Very nice. I have never written sonnets. Maybe I should give it a try.