Nicodemus by Howard Nemerov - Poem for the Second Sunday in Lent, Year A
The Englewood Review of Books curates a weekly series of classic and contemporary poems that resonate with the themes of the lectionary readings. Here is one of the poems for this coming Sunday (More poems for the Second Sunday in Lent, Year A can be found here)
This poem was selected to accompany one of the
lectionary readings for the coming week, John 3:1-17
Nicodemus
Howard Nemerov
SNIPPET:
…
I would not, if I could, be born again
To suffer the miseries of the child,
The perpetual nearness to tears,
The book studied through burning eyes,
The particular malady of being always ruled
To ends he does not see or understand.
…
Howard Nemerov (1920 – 1991) was an American poet. He was twice Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, from 1963 to 1964 and again from 1988 to 1990. Nemerov wrote almost exclusively in fixed forms and meter. While he is known for his meticulousness and refined technique, his work also has a reputation for being witty and playful. (via Wikipedia).