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The Splendour of God, By Joseph Mary Plunkett – Irish Poem

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The poem, the splendour of God, is a great Irish poem that comes in at number 75 on the top 100 Irish poems list.

And yes, you guessed it, the Irish poem is a religious poem about God. Joseph Mary Plunkett was born in Dublin. During 1916 Rising, he was one of the signers of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. He was imprisoned by the English army in the Richmond Barracks. Shortly before his execution in the courtyard of Kilmainham jail, on the morning of May 4th, he married his fiance, Grace Gifford, in the jail’s chapel. He died at the age of 28. His friend Thomas McDonagh was executed the day before him. 

Given the circumstances, it is no wonder that he reflected in God. Irish poem about God

 

The Splendour of God

The drunken stars stagger across the sky,
The moon wavers and sways like a wind-blown bud,
Beneath my feet the earth like drifting scud
Lapses and slides, wallows and shoots on high;
Immovable things start suddenly flying by,
The city shakes and quavers, a city of mud
And ooze—a brawling cataract is my blood
Of molten metal and fire—like God am I.

When God crushes his passion-fruit for our thirst
And the universe totters—I have burst the grape
Of the world, and let its powerful blood escape
Untasted—crying whether my vision durst
See God’s high glory in a girl’s soft shape—
God! Is my worship blessed or accurst?

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J. Mahood

Saturday 5th of November 2022

It broke my heart.