Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"A Book of Days; 25. Pentecost" by Martha Collins delves into the profound spiritual event of Pentecost, reimagining it in a manner that emphasizes both the sacred and the corporeal, the ephemeral and the eternal. Collins crafts a scene imbued with a sense of immediacy and sensory detail, transforming a moment of divine intervention into an intimate experience that resonates with the physicality of human existence. Through this lens, the poem explores themes of communication, inspiration, and the merging of the divine with the human.

The poem opens with an atmospheric setting where "The sun gone for a moment, air / intrudes itself, a cool presence, bodies / stir on the warm grass --" This introduction situates the reader in a space that is both specific and universal, a moment of transition and anticipation. The air, as a "cool presence," suggests the imminent arrival of something beyond the ordinary, preparing the ground for the spiritual awakening that follows.

As the poem progresses, Collins focuses on the absence of words, the "red letters / of speech -- lips held open, tongue held still," to convey a moment of profound silence and expectation. This silence is filled with the elemental sounds of human emotion—"the ah / of pain, the uh of hurt, the hhh of almost / nothing left," underscoring the depth of human experience and the capacity for suffering. Yet, within this moment of vulnerability, there is also the anticipation of revelation, a space opened for the divine to enter.

The pivotal moment of the poem, "the word gone, spirit / came, it filled, mouth to mouth, / the whole house," captures the essence of Pentecost—the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. Collins depicts this not just as a spiritual event but as a deeply physical one, emphasizing the act of inspiration as a literal breathing into, a life force that animates and transforms. The imagery of "mouth to mouth" resonates with both resuscitation and intimacy, bridging the divine and the human.

The manifestation of the Holy Spirit as "fire, a dazzle / of tongues, doing things over, things / that were done --" introduces the themes of renewal and communication. The "dazzle of tongues" symbolizes not only the miraculous speaking in different languages but also the power of expression and the rekindling of faith and understanding.

Collins then shifts the focus back to the physical world with "a cloud slips from the shoulder / of the sun, the sun falls on the bodies stripped / again, the bodies houses filled with flesh --" This imagery of light and renewal, of bodies as "houses filled with flesh," suggests the embodiment of the divine within the human, the sacred manifest in the corporeal.

The poem concludes with a reflection on the transformative power of this event: "For a moment, the house was nothing / but mouth, the tongue / of the body the tongue of the holiest ghost / of the word that was, that was to be --" Here, Collins captures the essence of Pentecost as a moment of profound articulation and potentiality, where the divine message is made manifest through the human capacity for speech and understanding.

"A Book of Days; 25. Pentecost" is a poetic meditation on the intersection of the divine and the human, exploring how moments of spiritual revelation are deeply interwoven with the physical experiences that define our existence. Collins offers a fresh perspective on a sacred narrative, inviting readers to contemplate the ways in which the divine speaks through and within the corporeal, breathing life into the silent spaces of our being.

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