John Paul's Roman Triptych
In a television documentary in 1999, Eamon Duffy, Reader in Church History and Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge, recounted a story about the Pope and poetry. Duffy told of a priest who sat next to the Pontiff at a dinner in the Vatican in the early 1980s. He asked: "Holy Father, I love poetry and I've read all your verse. Have you written much poetry since you became Pope?"
The Pope, who was a prolific poet before his 1978 election as Roman Catholic leader, answered "No," but did not expand. Twenty minutes later he turned to the priest and said only: "No context." The response, Duffy said, meant that the papacy had forced him to hide his feelings. Now, however, age, illness and the shadow of death have given him fresh inspiration. Called Roman Triptych, the Pope's new, three-part, 14-page poem is a meditation that touches on some of the key moments of his life and includes a reference to his own death. The first part, called The Stream, is an ode to nature with verses about rolling hills, silvery mountain streams, life, death, love, eternity...
"The undulating wood descends to the rhythm of mountain streams... If you want to find the source, you have to go up, against the current tear through, seek, don't give up, you know it must be somewhere here. Where are you, source? Where are you, source?!"
In part two of the poem, Meditations on the Book of Genesis at the Threshold of the Sistine Chapel, the Pope reflects on the frescoed hall in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace where he was elected and where his successor will be chosen. He depicts the cardinals sitting under Michelangelo's inspiring ceiling scenes of the Creation as they make their momentous decision on who to elect as Roman Catholic leader:
"So it will be again, when the need arises after my death. Michelangelo's vision must then speak to them. 'Conclave': a joint concern for the legacy of the Keys of the Kingdom. They will find themselves between the Beginning and the End. between the Day of Creation and the Day of judgment. It is given to man once to die and after that the judgment!"
The third part of the poem is a meditation on the story of Abraham, the Biblical figure honoured by all three of the great monotheistic religions — Christianity, Islam and Judaism. It is set in Ur, Abraham's birthplace, in modern-day Iraq but there is no reference to the current crisis in the region.
The Pope wrote the poetry longhand in Polish, and besides the Polish original, English, Italian, French, German and Spanish translations were also published today.
"Allow me to wet my lips in spring water, to feel its freshness, reviving freshness."
