He Did Not Slay His Son Poem by gershon hepner

He did not slay his son or half
his seed, instead he slew a ram.
“Like worshipping a Golden Calf
is killing sons, ” thought Abraham,
and yet at first he seemed quite willing
to do so, and what’s far more odd,
believed the order for this killing
came, though ridiculous, from God.

Inspired by a poem by Wilfried Owen which Benjamin Britten used in his War requiem, which I heard ina performance at the Disney Concert Hall on January 24,2008. Lorin Maazel conducted, with Grant Gerson assisting him in conducting the chamber enselble that Britten himself conducted the premiere in Coventry in 1962. The soloists were Vale Rideout, Ian Greenlaw and Nancy Gustafson.


The Parable of the Old Man, Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretchèd forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him, thy son.
Behold! Caught in a thicket by its horns,
A Ram. Offer the Ram of Pride instead.
But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

1/31/08