Goede Vrydagh
The Cosmic Mourning
The poet observes the celestial bodies dimming and faltering in response to the darkness of the crucifixion.
What holds back the midday sun?✦ How can she have no will to shine? Is it evening at noon?1 At least you, full moon, and you stars, her train—how quickly you go under?✦ Must you, halfway through your course, drink the cool seawater?2
The Shadow of the Cross
The poet witnesses the sorrow of the daughters of Zion at the foot of the cross.
No, no—I can see it in you: you feel your courage sink before the shameful scaffold, where Zion's daughters stand and faint at the terror of that holy 'It is finished,' and go drown in tears on the dry mountain.✦✦3
A Prayer for Self-Surrender
The poet turns inward, asking God to apply the power of the finished work of Christ to his own soul.
O my all-sufficient God, will You forgive me one word?4 'It is finished' does not satisfy me, unless You kill me and tear me from myself, and crush the joints of my hardened soul, so that she does her answering duties meekly and tenderly—so that I learn to hang goods and house, body and desire and time, upon this Cross.✦✦5
Read the original Latin
Wat lett de Middagh-Sonn? hoe lust haer niet te blincken? Is 't avond op den Noen? Ten minsten, volle Maen, En, Sterren, haer gevolgh, hoe haest ghy 't ondergaen? Moet ghy ter halver loop van 't koele Zee-natt drincken? Neen, neen, ick sie 't u aen, ghy voelt den moed ontsincken Voor 't schandige Schavott, daer Sions dochtren staen En swijmen voor den schrick van 't heyligh, 't Is voldaen, En op den drooghen Bergh in tranen gaen verdrincken. O, mijn voldoende God, vergeeft ghy my een woord? 't Voldaen voldoet my niet, ten zy ghy my vermoordt En van mijn selven scheurt, en brieselt de gewrichten Van mijn verstockte Ziel, soo dats' haer' weder-plichten Gedwee en morruw doe; soo dat ick haev en huys, En lijf en lust en tijd leer' hangen aen dit Cruys.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.27.45;Mark.15.33;Luke.23.44-Luke.23.45 — Now from the sixth hour darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour. Mark.15.33 — And when the sixth hour had come, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. Luke.23.44 — And it was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. Luke.23.45 — the sun was darkened, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
- ↩Joel.2.10;Matt.24.29;Luke.23.45 — Before them the earth quakes, the heavens tremble; the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars withdraw their light. Matt.24.29 — But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Luke.23.45 — the sun was darkened, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
- ↩John.19.30 — When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
- ↩Luke.23.28 — But turning toward them Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; but weep for yourselves and for your children."
- ↩John.19.30 — When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
- ↩Gal.2.20;Matt.16.24 — I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Matt.16.24 — Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
Notes
- 1 ↩Noen is midday/noon (and the hour of None); the line forces nightlike dark onto the brightest hour of the day.
- 2 ↩Zee-natt is sea-wet/seawater; the image is the classical/cosmographic one of heavenly bodies setting into the ocean mid-course.
- 3 ↩'t Is voldaen renders Christ's Consummatum est / 'It is finished' (John 19:30); kept as the holy last word the lights and the women dread. Schavott is the execution scaffold (the Cross). drooghen Bergh is dry Calvary, set against the sea of the previous line.
- 4 ↩voldoende God plays on voldaen ('finished/sufficient'): God as the One who is enough, and who has finished the work. vergeeft ghy my een woord = grant/pardon me leave to speak one word.
- 5 ↩Wordplay chain: 't Voldaen / voldoet / voldoende. weder-plichten = reciprocal/answering duties the soul owes in return for the finished work. morruw = soft/tender (murw). brieselt = crushes/crumbles.
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