deepundergroundpoetry.com
Necessary Hell
Is it not interesting to see
How the Christians continually
Try to separate themselves in vain
From the doctrine of eternal pain? - Stevie Smith
Hell hath been described by men,
a thousand years from ages when
you liked it or were tried,
struck down, strung up, sky high’d.
But now description is finessed,
like an iron maiden dressed
in granny’s gown and bonnet.
Their logic likes to pirouette.
The dance, as I recall,
is known as sophistry. Appalled
by hell, scholars form a fire brigade
and soak the brimstone colonnade.
Put pots of flowers here and there.
But concepts change, or die.
Hell belongs nowhere.
So why not break the colonnade in bits?
Because God’s house is built on pits.
Because reward is not enough.
Because whence cometh sin.
Because the carrot needs a stick to dangle from.
Because men’s hearts are tin.
How the Christians continually
Try to separate themselves in vain
From the doctrine of eternal pain? - Stevie Smith
Hell hath been described by men,
a thousand years from ages when
you liked it or were tried,
struck down, strung up, sky high’d.
But now description is finessed,
like an iron maiden dressed
in granny’s gown and bonnet.
Their logic likes to pirouette.
The dance, as I recall,
is known as sophistry. Appalled
by hell, scholars form a fire brigade
and soak the brimstone colonnade.
Put pots of flowers here and there.
But concepts change, or die.
Hell belongs nowhere.
So why not break the colonnade in bits?
Because God’s house is built on pits.
Because reward is not enough.
Because whence cometh sin.
Because the carrot needs a stick to dangle from.
Because men’s hearts are tin.
Published 12th Jun 2021
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Anonymous
- Edited 12th Jun 2021 00:25am
12th Jun 2021 00:21am
I’d say this is easily one of my favourites of yours of late.
I hate to go back to the Pagan thing once again, but it summarises rather gloriously how I feel about the church sometimes. It has become more about institution than about faith and I just don’t get it. I try, I really do. But it’s just not within me to understand why you’d trap a God.
That line of Hell belonging nowhere I found to be rather poignant amongst the others. Hell is only a necessary threat to those that believe in it. To take Hell out of the equation, well... it’s quite liberating to say the least.
That last stanza / last line is a bit of magic. It’s a bit of a skill to be scathing and lyrical at the same time. I hear the distant echoes of the small village mentality I grew up with. Every C of E harvest festival. Every school assembly dripping in saccharine coated monotony.
“Because men’s hearts are tin” literally sounded like a collection box.
Nailed it 👌🏻 (... soz, Jesus)
-M
I hate to go back to the Pagan thing once again, but it summarises rather gloriously how I feel about the church sometimes. It has become more about institution than about faith and I just don’t get it. I try, I really do. But it’s just not within me to understand why you’d trap a God.
That line of Hell belonging nowhere I found to be rather poignant amongst the others. Hell is only a necessary threat to those that believe in it. To take Hell out of the equation, well... it’s quite liberating to say the least.
That last stanza / last line is a bit of magic. It’s a bit of a skill to be scathing and lyrical at the same time. I hear the distant echoes of the small village mentality I grew up with. Every C of E harvest festival. Every school assembly dripping in saccharine coated monotony.
“Because men’s hearts are tin” literally sounded like a collection box.
Nailed it 👌🏻 (... soz, Jesus)
-M
Thank you for your kind commentary. I’m surprised and pleased that you liked this one so much, as it felt kind of tossed off and naff to me. If you’re interested, the Smith poem I quote in the epigraph is here: https://gweek.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/thoughts-about-the-christian-doctrine-of-eternal-hell/
The last line was originally “because the book of hope is thin,” but that seemed vague and slightly naff and nonsensical, so I went for the tin heart thing. I started to move away from organised religion when a Sunday school teacher explained, somewhat embarrassedly, that you should love God more than your family. It seemed odd to me that God would make the same demand as an abusive lover haha.
The last line was originally “because the book of hope is thin,” but that seemed vague and slightly naff and nonsensical, so I went for the tin heart thing. I started to move away from organised religion when a Sunday school teacher explained, somewhat embarrassedly, that you should love God more than your family. It seemed odd to me that God would make the same demand as an abusive lover haha.
Anonymous
12th Jun 2021 00:30am
Yeah, don’t change the end. The tin is audible. It works really well. 👌🏻
12th Jun 2021 1:43pm
