53/1001 - The Kalevala, Chesterton, Rossetti

Good Friday, April 18th, 2025

Essay: the introduction to The Kalevala, written by Horatio Clare and John Martin Crawford

So interesting! I loved reading the history of how these stories were gathered by many and finally compiled into an epic.

And I *love* the Kalevala so far. The rhythm of 8 beats per line is tuned to my mind. I wrote a poem about Holy Saturday in 7 brats with the last two lines having 8 beats to connect it to the rhythm of resurrection, so to speak. I know the Kalevala is translated, but the rhythm works in English. 

Short story: "The Coloured Lands" by Chesterton

Poem: Good Friday

Christina Rossetti

Am I a stone, and not a sheep,

That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross,

To number drop by drop Thy blood’s slow loss,

And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved

Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;

Not so fallen Peter, weeping bitterly;

Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon

Which hid their faces in a starless sky,

A horror of great darkness at broad noon –

I, only I.

Yet give not o’er,

But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;

Greater than Moses, turn and look once more

And smite a rock.