Sonnet for Assisi

| | Comments (0)

Blind Francis, waiting to welcome Sister Death,

St Francis4.jpg

Worn though he was by ecstacies and fame,

Had heart for tune. With what remained of breath,

He led his friars in canticles. Then came

Brother Elias, scowling, to his side,

Small-souled Elias, crying by book and candle,

This was outrageous! Had the friars no pride?

Music at deathbeds! Ah, the shame! the scandal!

Elias gave him sermons and advice

Instead of song; which simply proves once more

What things are sure this side of paradise:

Death, taxes, and the counsel of the bore.

Though we outwit the tithe, make death our friend,

Bores we have with us even to the end.

(Phyllis McGinley, 1950)

Leave a comment

About the author

Paul A. Zalonski is from New Haven, CT. He is a member of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, a Catholic ecclesial movement and an Oblate of Saint Benedict. Contact Paul at paulzalonski[at]yahoo.com.

Categories

Archives

Humanities Blog Directory

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Paul Zalonski published on October 4, 2009 2:16 PM.

Saint Francis of Assisi was the previous entry in this blog.

Hymn to Saint Francis of Assisi, friar, deacon, founder is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.