Poems of Adoration — A Closer Reading

Violence and the Sacred

Several poems in Poems of Adoration depict sacred figures in moments of extreme physical or psychological strain. In “Desolation,” Christ treads grapes alone, his flesh “dusk with wine.” “A Dance of Death” reimagines Salome’s story: she dances on ice, is swallowed by the river, and her severed head skims across the surface, “lips open in a scream no soul may hear.” The poem juxtaposes the “lovely” winter day with the horror of decapitation, and the head’s “dance that never stops” echoes the earlier dance of the living girl. “Obedience” describes John the Baptist trembling as he baptizes Christ, “startled by the sight / Of One coming, simply bright / As a Lamb.” The violence is not gratuitous; it is tied to the poems’ exploration of sacrifice and transformation.

Liturgical Echoes and Latin Titles

Many poems bear Latin titles drawn from the Vulgate or Catholic liturgy: “Sicut Parvuli,” “Aurum, Thus, et Myrrha—Alleluia!,” “Nimis Honorati Sunt,” “Pax Vobiscum,” “Viaticum.” These titles anchor the poems in a specific religious tradition, but the poems themselves often depart from conventional piety. “Entbehren Sollst Du” (German for “You shall do without”) describes Christ in Gethsemane casting away his will “in Thy blood.” The mixture of languages—Latin, German, English—suggests a cosmopolitan, learned sensibility. The poems frequently quote or echo scripture, but they do so in a fragmented, allusive way that demands the reader’s familiarity with the source texts.

Shifts in Pace and Perspective

The collection moves between rapid, breathless lines and slower, more meditative passages. In “Desolation,” short lines like “O beautiful and whole, / In that red stole!” alternate with longer, enjambed ones. “A Dance of Death” begins with a leisurely description of winter ice, then accelerates into the dance and the sudden “crash of thunder from the stream.” The final image of Salome’s head “skimming and hopping” across the ice is both swift and grotesque. Other poems, such as “Of Silence” and “Real Presence,” adopt a quieter, more contemplative tone. This variation in pace mirrors the emotional range of the collection, from ecstatic adoration to stark terror.

Sensory Imagery and the Body

Field’s poetry is intensely physical. Christ’s body is described in terms of wine, blood, and sweat; Salome’s head is “golden hair” and “jewel-sparks” above a “little face as grey as evening ice.” The poems repeatedly invoke taste, touch, and smell: “the wine-fat,” “the spume,” “the fume, the carnage, and the murderous heat.” In “Holy Communion,” the speaker likely describes the sensation of receiving the Eucharist. This emphasis on the senses grounds the spiritual subject matter in bodily experience, making the poems feel immediate and often unsettling.

Readers approaching Poems of Adoration should be prepared for a demanding, allusive style that rewards careful attention to diction and rhythm. The poems are best read slowly, perhaps aloud, to appreciate their sonic qualities and the weight of their biblical and liturgical references. The collection is not a straightforward devotional work; it is a complex, often dark meditation on faith, sacrifice, and the human encounter with the divine.

Years at the desk, I’ve seen how Poems of Adoration burns with that same fierce, almost wounded devotion as the letters in Love Letters of a Violinist, and Other Poems — Reading Notes. Both whisper of a love that prays through the body’s ache, a tender, desperate sort of faith held quietly between the margins.