Guest poem submitted by Gerry Rowe:
(Poem #820) Love bade me welcome Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back, Guilty of dust and sin. But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack From my first entrance in, Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning If I lack'd anything. "A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here"; Love said, "You shall be he." "I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear, I cannot look on thee." Love took my hand and smiling did reply, "Who made the eyes but I?" "Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame Go where it doth deserve." "And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?" "My dear, then I will serve." "You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat." So I did sit and eat. |
This poem may have a strong appeal even to those who, like me, are not practitioners of religion but who are not entirely averse thereto, and sometimes wish that they could find some of what is so attractively described in its verses. In the first verse Love is presented as a person of unknown gender, appearance or occupation to be imagined as you will. This is not the love laid down as an obligation in the Christian Ten Commandments (love thy neighbour); still less is it the passionate love that may entail so much struggle and potential hardship. It is a soothing love of welcome, an observant, encouraging, solicitous, hospitable love that provides exactly what the narrator needs (acceptance, anticipation and painless removal of feelings of unworthiness) and demands nothing more than that the narrator sit down and partake of a meal of love itself! What love could better that? In the course of the second and third verses it becomes clear that this Love is in fact the christian god, a vision of a version of Christ. In this poem Love leads the narrator to self-acceptance. "My dear, then I will serve." 'Serve' is used interestingly here: more, in my opinion, in the sense of 'to be sufficient, good enough' than in the more obvious one. The metrical scheme (iambic pentameters alternating with lines of three feet of two syllables) allows for enjambement (but without creating long phrases) and also for short, stand-alone questions and statements. Excellent for the variations required by dialogue. I know of two choral settings of this poem from the twentieth century: by Vaughan Williams in his Five Mystical Songs and by John Tavener in a standalone version. The latter is exceptionally good and contributes a good deal to my appreciation of this beautiful poem. Gerry Rowe. [Minstrels Links] Poem #391, The Pulley -- George Herbert Poem #567, Easter Wings -- George Herbert Poem #546, The Sick Rose -- William Blake Poem #771, The Divine Image -- William Blake Poem #26, Jerusalem -- William Blake Poem #66, The Tyger -- William Blake Poem #97, The Fly -- William Blake Poem #368, Auguries of Innocence -- William Blake Poem #330, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning -- John Donne Poem #384, Song -- John Donne Poem #403, A Lame Beggar -- John Donne Poem #465, The Sun Rising -- John Donne Poem #796, Death Be Not Proud (Holy Sonnets: X) -- John Donne
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11 comments: ( or Leave a comment )
Hi,
I am just responding to your posting on "Love Bade Me Welcome"
There is also a stunning setting of this text by David Hurd - published
by Selah Publishing House in New York. It is set as a fairly simple
motet for mixed voices.
Thanks!
Scott Hyslop
Did you know Madonna also sampled this poem for her BEDTIME stories cd. It's
called, "love tried to welcome me." I was reciting this poem, and a devoted
fan of hers accused me of plagarism of her music.
joey haber
I wanted the text of this poem for one of my congregation. (I'm not only
a practitioner of the Christian religion, but also a Minister.) Google
led me straight to this site.
As a practititioner I should like to make a couple of comments. For me
the poem is quite specifically about the unwillingness of some to
approach the Holy Communion for fear of unworthiness. Gerry is right in
identifying "Love" with Christ, tho I'm not quite sure what he means by
"a version of Christ", and in identifying this love as acceptance.
However, I have to take issue with his labeling of the Ten Commandments
as Christian; they are of course Jewish in origin. Nor do they make any
reference to love! "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is from the "Holiness
Code" of the book of Leviticus, cited by Jesus as second-greatest (after
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ...") when
challenged to name the most important of the commandments.
The meal is clearly intended to be the Holy Communion, that Christian
meal based on the Last Supper, the Passover that Jesus ate with his
disciples on the eve of his crucifixion. This death is referred to
obliquely in the question, "And know you not ... who bore the blame?"
I think that Gerry reads more than is valid into the use of the word
"serve". Love is the host. It is unthinkable that the host should serve,
let alone a guest. Nevertheless, the guest offers to serve, feeling
unworthy to sit at table. Love, however, insists: "You must sit down ...
and taste my meat", surely a reference to "Those who eat my flesh and
drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last
day; " /John 6:54./ Love taking over the service at the meal is a clear
reference to another saying of Jesus: "For the Son of Man [Jesus' phrase
referring to himself] came not to be served but to serve, and to give
his life a ransom for many." /Mark 10:45
Nicholas Kerr
/
Is your copy of the text of Herbert's 'Love bade me welcome', as reproduced here, subject to copyright? I'd like to use it in a free newsletter.
M.Andersen
I was raised Catholic, studied theology but I am non-practicing. I see
something further in this poem. In Christianity, there are many references
to God being in his people - in their souls and giving them life. I believe
this poem is also about our fear to Love one another. So many times, one
person will offer Love, and another is afraid to accept it - like the person
in this poem. It also speaks to the giver of Love to show patience and
acceptance. In the end, both will be rewarded. Love is a gift from God to us
and no matter which side we're on, we must be patient and open with
ourselves and the other people in our lives.
Alina.
I think that part of the power of this masterpiece comes from the occasional
word whose face, so to speak, doesn't quite fit - just as the persona of the
poem feels as if s/he doesn't quite fit in the gathering/banquet where s/he
feels a trespasser, the uninvited. Maybe "my dear" sounds like a strangely
patronising way to address God to some ears. And why "Truth, Lord" rather
than, "True, Lord"? Again, it strikes a slightly odd note to some modern
ears. I'm not enough of an expert to know if these apparent anomalies would
have seemed such to seventeenth century ears.
But then, there are those who argue that "Dear" is playing on a subliminal
relationship with the French word for God, "Dieu" - if you pronounce "Dieu"
as if it were an English word, it would not be difficult to come up with a
pronunciation that's about the same as "dear".
I also have to admit that "Truth, Lord" injects an element of finality that
"True, Lord" does not. It's a brilliant intensification delivered with an
incredible delicacy - the moment when the scales start to drop from the
would-be guest's eyes.
CS Lewis comments that it's easy for people to profoundly misunderstand
Herbert's use of the term, "unkind" - which has the modern sense of being
cruel or unfeeling. He says that this is to overlook the older sense of the
word which suggests a failure of family duty - not behaving as somebody of
the same "kind" - not reciprocating the duty that a child might owe to the
most loving and giving of parents.
Peter Green
Hi,
I'd like to put in my two cents' worth in favor of the double meaning of "serve." The idea of "serve" as "suffice" seems to me fully in keeping with the kinds of puns that appear in Elizabethan poetry -- particularly the poetry of devotion. My church choir is singing John Hurd's setting of "Love Bade Me Welcome," and the soon-to-be-consecrated Bishop of Southern Ohio has chosen it to be sung at his consecration service. I find it profoundly moving. Like "The Symposium," it's also about a dinner party!
Kaye Livermore
As regarding the comment by Gerry, I want to invite you to partake of the Love that is offered in this poem. I slightly disagree with Mr. Kerr, but I do see where he is coming from. The scripture clearly teaches that Christ offers His love free for all to partake in. I am not talking about a religion, but solely a relationship with the God of the universe. Ps. 34:8 says "O taste and see that the Lord is good." He is good and is offering his salvation to you to accept by "sitting at His table" and receiving Him as your Lord. Exodus clearly states that eating the fat (flesh) and drinking the blood of a sacrifice are totally prohibited. When Christ mentioned this in His statement referred to by Kerr, he was drawing a picture of what was going to happen on the cross and how to accept that by faith as the only means of salvation that results in a ticket to heaven. I pray that you will accept this free gift that makes even the most scarred criminal white as snow.
peace be upon you all,
I find the poem magnificent, but I have some questions about it. First I think that all what is told in the poem is an imagery of what would happen after death, and the meal represents the Holy communion which represents paradise and forgiveness that God gave to the quest. this is my question is the Holy communion means that the guest is accepted by God and will go to paradise? how will God reward those who seeks his mercy differently? in other words, some people are doing good things more than other people, so if they will all be given mercy for their seeking for God, would not that be unfair to the other ones who were better persons? there is a confusing part here when the poet says " who made the eyes but I?" is the host here wants the Guest to look at him because he is the one who gave him his eyes? I think if God gave us our eyes, and we are doing bad things with it, then here when God says as in the poem I made the eyes, I think it is a kind of blame, as he should not be doing bad things. I do not know really, but the poem is touching and magnificent
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