students of jesus

Marianne Moore is one of the many 20^th century poets who combined their faith and art. She excelled at both: winning a Pulitzer Prize for her Collected Poems, and winning the admiration of T.S. Eliot: “Miss Moore is, I believe, one of those few who have done the language some service in my lifetime.”

Midwestern-born, Bryn Mawr educated, she was known for irony, wit, and deep conviction. She played the role of East-coast literati well, dressing in a flambouyant cape and tricorn hat. She was featured in Life, the New York Times, and the New Yorker. She was the anti-Emily Dickinson.

The Ford Motor Company even hired her to suggest names for their cars, though they did not adopt her suggestions. That’s a shame. Instead, they went with The Edsel.

That Harp You Play So Well

Oh David, if I had

Your power, I should be glad—

         In harping, with the sling,

         In patient reasoning!

Blake, Homer, Job, and you,

Have made old wineskins new.

         Your energies have wrought

         Stout continents of thought.

But, David, if the heart

Be brass, what boots the art

         Of exorcising wrong,

         Of harping to a song?

The scepter and the ring

And every royal thing

         Will fail. Grief’s lustiness

         Must cure that harp’s distress.