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Blind Bartimeus at the gates
Of Jericho in darkness waits;
He hears the crowd;--he hears a breath
Say, "It is Christ of Nazareth!"
And calls, in tones of agony,
The thronging multitudes increase;
Blind Bartimeus, hold thy peace!
But still, above the noisy crowd,
The beggar's cry is shrill and loud;
Until they say, "He calleth thee!"
Then saith the Christ, as silent stands
The crowd, "What wilt thou at my hands?"
And he replies, "O give me light!
Rabbi, restore the blind man's sight.
And Jesus answers, ''
!
Ye that have eyes, yet cannot see,
In darkness and in misery,
Recall those mighty Voices Three,
!
!
!
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Comments
Just a consultant's suggestion----Perhaps, if Longfellow deiberately left out the words that even the Bible does not give,yet Longfellow gives us a shorthand (!) to round out the poem, then maybe Longfellow is making a comment---are we the readers being prompted to ask in our blindness, are WE blind, or did Longfellow intentionally censor and MAKE US blind by not including something,that wasn't there in the original? Just a thought.
Jim Kane from United States