Behold the Man! by Christina Georgina Rossetti
The speaker demands shame for bodily indulgence, pride and wilfulness in the face of Christ's suffering on the Cross. Human ease is contrasted with His agony, and His coming brings a sword, fire, fasting and tearful night watches.
By Christina Georgina Rossetti · Genre: Christian Devotional Poetry, Sonnet · 182 words
First lines
Shall Christ hang on the Cross, and we not look? / Heaven, earth, and hell stood gazing at the first, / While Christ for long-cursed man was counted cursed; / Christ, God and Man, Whom God the Father strook / And shamed and sifted and one while forsook: -- / Cry shame upon our bodies we have nursed / In sweets, our souls in pride, our spirits immersed / In wilfulness, our steps run all acrook. / Cry shame upon us! for He bore our shame / In agony, and we look on at ease / With neither hearts on flame nor cheeks on flame: / What hast thou, what have I, to do with peace? / Not to send peace but send a sword He came, / And fire and fasts and tearful night-watches.
What this Textopian page supports
Behold the Man! is listed on Textopian as a poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Christian Devotional Poetry, Sonnet
- Length: 182 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Behold the Man! by Christina Georgina Rossetti
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Christian Devotional Poetry — The speaker contemplates Christ's suffering and rebukes complacency, urging shame and penitential vigilance.
- Sonnet — Fourteen rhymed lines turn from Christ's suffering and human self-indulgence to an urgent rejection of easy peace.
Tags
crucifixion · repentance · fasting · Christian devotion · sonnet