A Gift of Sweetness

by Michael Field — a poem card from Justes Mots

Michael Field's devotional poem depicts a speaker approaching Christ's crown of thorns to worship, only to experience an unexpected vision of grace. Rather than the cruelty implied by the sharp spines, a gentle wind bearing the scent of mystical violets emerges from the crown itself, suggesting that divine mercy and beauty spring from suffering. The poem transforms symbols of pain into vessels of redemptive grace and tenderness.

I THOUGHT to lay my hands about Thy Crown,
And gather, bleeding, its sharp spines:
But as I knelt and bowed my forehead down,
Worshipping thy cruel desert-Crown,
Worshipping its thicket of sharp spines—
Through them blew a little wind,
Clearer than the dew in breath
Round Thy Mother’s feet at Nazareth;…

Themes: love · new-baby · wedding · friendship