A Cry Like a Bell

by Madeleine L'Engle

In this collection of poems of human struggle and God's grace, Madeleine L'Engle speaks across the centuries through the voices of biblical figures, like Rachel, Isaac, Mary, and Andrew. 

Every one of us will find at least one character with whom we can identify—their dilemmas and struggles, moments of joy, and heart longings. Their dramatic songs echo in our minds and touch us afresh with belief in God's grace and love, no matter what our situations.

Praise for A Cry Like a Bell
"Whether in her prose or poetry, Madelein L'Engle brings illumination to her themes through her blend of insight and honesty." —Edmund Fuller

"She speaks with the awesomely stark clarity that marks the imagination of real poets. Read her poetry and be chastened and filled with joy." —Thomas Howard

"These cries of pain and joy ring down the cycles of the centuries, and listening to them, we are joined to their music." —Luci Shaw

Genres: Poetry, Religion, Spirituality, Faith, Nonfiction, Christianity, Womens

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science.

Reviews

[Ian Caveny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lest a two-star rating come across as judgmental, I feel the need to clarify really quickly that I deeply admire Madeleine L'Engle's writing, theology, and faith. From A Wrinkle in Time to A Wind in the Door, her supernatural-mystical fiction is more than inspiring; it is sacramental! And L'Engle in every way deserves as much a place on the pedestal of 20th-21st century Christian novelists as such luminaries as C.S. Lewis, Flannery O'Connor, J.R.R. Tolkien, Graham Greene, et al.

It's just that her poetry (not unlike C.S. Lewis' poetry) is... hit and miss.

That is the unfortunate thing about this collection of poems charting a course through the Scriptures from Old Testament to New Testament. There are moments that really shine. One of my favorites is from a New Testament poem giving Mary a retrospective view near the end of her life: "In the beginning I was confused and dazzled; / a plain girl, unused to angels." Likewise, here and there L'Engle "turns" a biblical or theological moment with the poetic imagination into something surprising, breathing new life into a piece of Scripture left uncontemplated, or new perspective into a theological claim left unconsidered. This is especially true for the poems on Eve, Isaac, Sarah before Mount Moriah, and (one of my personal favorites) the High Priest's Servant after his ear was cut off.

But these moments of poetic brilliance can, at times, be lost in the midst of a mire of other far lesser poems: poems that either have less of this poetic spark and turn-of-phrase or whose verse is so stilted and forced that they lose their impact. As I mentioned above, C.S. Lewis struggled with this character in his poetry-writing as well.

Still, even in the lesser poems, there are moments of surprise. The Young Mary proclaims "I know not all of that which I contain" and then later sings "How can the infinite finite be?" These meditations on God's mysterious (yet wholly real) interactions with human beings poke and prod at our modernist presuppositions regarding the natural world's resistance to intrusion from the supernatural. All throughout we are left with the (unsettling but absolutely true) reality that our God truly is the God who intercedes into human history and *does things.* And the greatest takeaway from L'Engle's poems is a refreshed willingness to pay attention to God's action, even in our days' minutiae. Even if her poetic style at times leaves much to be desired, this vision and proclamation is worth remembering and paying attention to.

[Logan Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite poem from the collection: “The ram: caught in the bush”

Asked to leave Eden
where I, with all other beasts,
remained after the two-legged creatures left,
I moved to the gates and the cherub
with the flaming sword
drew aside to let me by, wings folded across his eyes.

I trotted along a path through woods,
across a desert, made a long detour
around a lake, and finally climbed
a mountain, till
the trees gave way to bushes
and a rock.
An old man raised a knife.

He stood there by the rock
and wept and raised his knife.
So these are men, I thought,
and shook my head in horror, and was caught
within the springing branches of a bush.
Then there was lightning,
and the thunder came,
and a voice cried out to me:
O my son, my son,
slain before the foundation of the world.

I felt the knife’s edge.
For this I came from Eden,
for my will is ever his,
as I am his, and have life
in him, and he in me.
Thus the knife pierced his own heart.

And the old man laughed with joy.

[Annalise Kraines · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this. Like, so badly. It's Madeleine L'Engle writing poetry about biblical characters. But I was pretty disappointed overall. The OT poems were very cool, but they started to get weird. There was one poem in particular about Mary getting pregnant with Jesus that felt very sexual and I was not about it at all. Also, overall these poems bored me. They weren't very pleasant to read out loud (which is a STAPLE of poetry), the writing was simplistic and not very artful, and it was just kind of meh. A true bummer.

[Jess Debanné · Rating 5 out of 5]

l’engle is such a gift to me. these poems were all written in the voice of different biblical characters. such a delight to read!

[Emma McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect book to end the year on. Have I found a new comp title??

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't always find that her poetry "sang" - though there were a few moments of real delight. But I loved the way she dug deep into the experience of the men and women who so often remain flat on the pages of Scripture. The book was well worth reading for that depth. A few poems that I very much enjoyed just for their lyrical beauty:

Temper my intemperance, O Lord,
O hallowed, O adored,
my heart's creator, mighty, wild,
temper thy untempered child.
Blaze my eye and blast my ear,
let me never fear to fear,
nor forget what I have heard,
even your voice, my Lord.
Even your Word.

Also, a poem called After Annunciation:

This is the irrational season
when love blooms bright and wild.
Had Mary been filled with reason
There'd have been no room for the child.

And this little snippet at the end of Ephesus:

...in his harrowing of a shadowed Hell
perhaps the old gods were redeemed as well,
and joyfully sing their praise to him
with cherubim and seraphim.

Madeleine sees with freshness and creativity, and it is a pleasure to look through her eyes for the space of this little volume.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'Engle's poetry is lovely and lyrical, easy to read, but thought-provoking. Throughout the collection, which imagines the thoughts and feelings of various men and women from the Bible, giving them words to speak when scripture leaves them silent, I vacillated between delight and discomfort. On the one hand, I enjoyed and appreciated a new perspective on events and people I've read about so many times--it's as if L'Engle gives faces to people who have been shadows. On the other hand, there were times when it felt vaguely heretical, to put words in the mouths of Abraham or Leah or Mary, as if a modern understand and interpretation of long-ago events is of course the way they would have felt.

As a collection of poetry, it certainly succeeds. But I would only want to recommend it to readers with the maturity to keep it firmly in the land of "what if" rather than adding it to their morning devotions.

[RuthAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a slim volume, but there is so much packed into these poems. Through the pieces, Madeleine inhabits a character from the Bible, speculating about their motivation or reactions, and all the while illuminating aspects of God's character. It echoed her other meditations on faith (like Walking on Water or Penguins and Golden Calves), but reading it in verse was different, somehow. It hits a different part of my brain. I kept re-reading sections and trying to find a tune to set to the poems. Ultimately, reading this book made me grateful for Madeleine and for her work that continues to teach me new things.

"I find you, Lord, when I no longer clutch.
I find you when I learn to let you go,
and then you reach out with your healing touch."
(Mary of Magdala)

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for book club. L'Engle's poetry from the perspectives of biblical characters, from Abraham to Andrew and Sarah to Mary, ranges from brilliant to mundane. More of the poems are memorable than not and certain lines are truly breathtaking. I expected so little from this slim volume and was so pleasantly surprised.

[J B · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. Uneven book of Christian poetry. Some of them were great and some of them were alright.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will come back to this one often.

[Melody Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exquisite collection. Read it with a Bible next to you.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved many of the poems in this collection. I underlined phrases from others to reread and ponder.
A beautiful book of poetry.

[w gall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful poems composed and structured in a way that aids compression. I didn't realize how deeply devoted to Christ this author until I read these poems.

[Emma Hahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Visceral, gritty, and Grace-filled poems from the perspective of dozens of Biblical Characters.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strong concept but not always my favorite in execution

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poems in this collection do a great job of capturing characters from the Bible and presenting their faith in more than a one-dimensional way. Faith in God in these characters' experiences is not isolated from their fear, disappointment, sin, hope, and love. I'm not a great student of poetry, so I didn't really get all of the poems stylistically (rhyme and meter) and all, but this is a good collection of poems.

[N.T. McQueen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not one for poetry but these empathetic meditations from integral Biblical figures (even Baalom's donkey) are poignant and add a level of humanity often missing in the original Biblical texts. These figures doubts, fears and fragility are illustrated in each poem. One of the wise men says in L'Engle's poem: "I will never look at the stars the same way" and I can say I can never look at Biblical characters the same as well.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost didn't buy this, but I changed my mind. I never spent much time imagining the lives of biblical characters outside of the bible, but this gave me fresh eyes. The poems from Mary's point of view were done if the best, a mother in all it's humanity/humility. I also really liked Isaac and Abraham.

[Miss Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 - 4 stars

My favorites were Isaac, Pharoh's Cross, O Sapientia, Mary Speaks series, esp. Pieta and From Ephesus.

Overall, I just found it amazing how vividly alive Madeleine saw these figures of history and how provoking these pieces are. Some of her best poetry as well.

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such moving and imaginative poems, mostly from the perspective of Biblical characters from the Old to the New Testament and into the early Church. It left me with some things to think about, a different perspective, and the desire to read it again at some point.

[estar* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flashes of brilliance and I like the idea of writing poems off characters in the Bible. The Bible can seem so commonly familiar and good poetry- good art- breaks thru that condescending familiarity into thoughtful wonder. That's what Madeleine does for me.

[Sophronia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madeleine L'Engle is my all time favorite, and to be completely honest, being so familiar with her other works made me expect a lot more. But if you're coming at this with a blank slate these poems are really great.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of my favorite poets/books. L'Engle writes moving and beautiful poetry. I enjoyed this book so much, I have given as gifts to some of my favorite people on the planet.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Religious poetry from a philosophical writer.

[Jaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and imaginative poetry. Well worth the read.

[Camilla Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

L'Engle is a lyric genius.

[DW · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really good poems in here, especially towards the beginning.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of two books to read for Lent.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favorite book of poetry I have ever read.