1.
Listen! The poet’s voice must speak; That is, that the aim of poetry must be to communicate propositional truth.
2.
A sound alone is not enough, A rather obvious, thought appropriate, Shakespeare reference.
3.
The world inherit with the meek Another obvious reference, this one to the Sermon on the Mount. Here, however, the obviousness of the reference is meant to provoke comparison. The full text is, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." Sub-Note--You will always find my Scripture references from the NIV. It is my Scriptural language, which is unfortunate since the ESV, NASB, and especially the KJV are all much more conducive to beautiful expression. Sub-Note over. In what sense does the poet "inherit the earth" with the meek? As the meek become inheritors by their very meekness before God, that is, they demand nothing from him in view of their sinfulness, so the poet accepts meekly revealed truth from God, knowing his own thoughts to be weak and fragmented.
4.
Meaning taken, handed, hewn rough. Like the meek receiving the world, here meaning is given, handed over, still rough not in substance but in apprehension.
5.
Scrape from her the fallen remnant I love the word remnant, so I used it here though it doesn't quite fit. The truth is made female, and the remnants of our "hewn rough" fallen comprehension are scraped from her.
6.
Words like Babel divided out One should not talk about difficulties in communication without Babel. Words once united men, now divide them and send them out.
7.
A dark disconnect from him sent Rather than a scrambling of the languages themselves, I prefer to see Babel as the cursing of communication itself. God de-perfected language.
8.
A rhythm lost, a misplaced route Lost, misplaced, touching on music, for poetry and music are both communication made almost perfect.
9.
We see the life in dying grass Moving from fallen communication to draw a connection to the general fallenness of the world itself. These next four lines talk about how for moments we can glimpse the perfection of the world. We see in it life.
10.
The meadow’s battle hid from view The meadow speaks peace to us, but in truth it is a furious and unending competition between plants and between animals and plants, and between animals and animals. The connection is back to poetry and as a bridge of communication.
11.
Furious, the red queen’s morass The red queen is a reference to a common evolutionary phenomenon (which is in turn a Lewis Carrol reference, but I will consider it an evolutionary reference since I have not read Carrol) in which furious and constant adaptation must take place on the part of both predator and prey in order to main a peaceful looking equilibrium.
12.
Her quiet deaths are no less true I hate romanticized views of nature.
13.
But speak, the world says, speak of things If we saw this battle, we would cry out to hear of something else!
14.
We lost when atoms split in two This is not a reference to the atomic bomb, but rather my own theory that when sin entered the world it created a natural emnity within the atom itself! From cooperating closely with one another, the electron and proton began competing...the electron to escape, and the proton to trap.
15.
Such power, loosened, in her sings The power like the atomic bomb? It is that powerful, more so, though I said I was not referencing that, the mind will probably go there, so it is an appropriate connection. Rather, the power of poetry to see deeper, to see the cooperation of the meadow, to imagine the world, perfected.
16.
Words that the ghost cleansed now accrue The Ghost = The Holy Spirit
17.
Mine they are! I say, though I’m theirs The poet directs his words, but is also constrained to conform to truth.
18.
The prophet’s glory second-hand The poet is prophet, revealer of God. It is his glory to knit together invisible things but it is a secondhand glory.
19.
This is his lot, no joy compares
20.
To speak what’s true, let truth command.
21.
Crush your talents, break it, bend it! Talents here is a Biblical reference. The talents as things not belonging to you that were entrusted to you.
22.
Given they were, now give them back.
23.
Be shaped and shape, look to mend it I thought these last bits were more straightforward.
24.
Perfection glimm’ring in the crack For moments, we glimpse perfection in the world, as though glimmering through the cracks. This is a Traherne reference, though I can't quote it right now.
25.
Bondsmens’ ears were pierced once, and free, This is the heart of the poem, the source of the title. It refers to a Biblical practice in which men who had sold themselves into slavery because of debts would be set free at the end of every seven years. However, if the bondservant liked his master and wanted to remain with him, he would take an awl and have his master drive a nail through his ear and into the doorframe of the house.
26.
In choice, so pierce your words to me. The connections should be complete and not need explaining. I will let you think about them.
