What does this poem have in common with the novel The Giver?
Nothing in Heaven Functions As It Ought
Nothing in Heaven functions as it ought:
Peter's bifocals, blindly sat on, crack;
His gates lurch wide with the cackle of a cock,
Not turn with a hush of gold as Milton had thought;
Gangs of the slaughtered innocents keep huffing
The nimbus off the Venerable Bede
Like that of an old dandelion gone to seed;
And the beatific choir keep breaking up, coughing.
But Hell, sleek Hell hath no freewheeling part:
None takes his own sweet time,
none quickens pace.
Ask anyone, How come you here, poor heart?--
And he will slot a quarter through his face,
You'll hear an instant click, a tear will start
Imprinted with an abstract of his case.
by X.J. Kennedy
Illustrations:
Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates
slots for coins
The Venerable Bede -- shown with a nimbus (a halo)
cherubs -- who could be some of the "slaughtered innocents" -- the babies who were killed by Herod in his attempt to get rid of the one who the Wise Men told him would be the new king (Jesus).
Vocabulary:
Peter -- Saint Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ;
traditionally, the keeper of the gates of heaven.
Bifocals – eyeglasses, having two portions, one for near and one for far vision.
His gates – The gates of heaven, the Pearly Gates
Milton -- John, 1608–74, English poet.
Nimbus -- a shining cloud sometimes surrounding a deity when on earth.
Venerable Bede -- CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Benedictine monk, priest, historian, Doctor of the Church, d. 735.
Venerable: commanding respect because of great age or impressive dignity -- The suffix “-able” turns a word into an adjective, and means “capable of.”
Beatific: serene, exalted, angelic, rapturous.
Freewheeling: moving about freely, independently, or irresponsibly.
Abstract: a summary of a text, scientific article, document, speech, etc.
