A cry to Christ amid massacre
Sonnet: On the Massacre of the Christians in Bulgaria
"Over thy Cross a Crescent moon I see!"
Poem
On the Massacre of the Christians in Bulgaria
Christ, dost thou live indeed? or are thy bonesStill straitened in their rock-hewn sepulchre?And was thy Rising only dreamed by herWhose love of thee for all her sin atones?For here the air is horrid with men’s groans,The priests who call upon thy name are slain,Dost thou not hear the bitter wail of painFrom those whose children lie upon the stones?Come down, O Son of God! incestuous gloomCurtains the land, and through the starless nightOver thy Cross a Crescent moon I see!If Thou in very truth didst burst the tombCome down, O Son of Man! and show thy mightLest Muhammad be crowned instead of Thee!
In brief
SummaryA sonnet that challenges Christ in the face of a massacre. The speaker asks whether Christ truly lives, or whether his bones still lie in the 'rock-hewn sepulchre' and his Rising was only dreamed by the woman whose love atoned for her sin. In Bulgaria 'the air is horrid with men's groans', priests are slain and children lie dead on the stones. The sestet begs Christ to 'Come down' and show his might, for over his Cross the speaker sees 'a Crescent moon', and fears that Muhammad will be 'crowned instead of Thee'.
Key themes
"Christ, dost thou live indeed? or are thy bones"
Summary
The octave opens with a question of faith: 'Christ, dost thou live indeed? or are thy bones / Still straitened in their rock-hewn sepulchre?' The speaker wonders whether the Rising was 'only dreamed by her / Whose love of thee for all her sin atones'. The reason for such doubt follows at once: 'here the air is horrid with men's groans', 'The priests who call upon thy name are slain', and a bitter wail of pain rises 'From those whose children lie upon the stones'. The speaker asks whether Christ does not hear it.
The sestet turns from question to plea. 'Come down, O Son of God!' the speaker cries, for 'incestuous gloom / Curtains the land' and 'Over thy Cross a Crescent moon I see!' If Christ 'in very truth didst burst the tomb', he must come down as 'Son of Man' and show his might, 'Lest Muhammad be crowned instead of Thee!' The poem ends with its challenge unanswered, the speaker's faith resting on whether Christ will act.
Characters
Christ
The silent Saviour
Addressed as 'Son of God' and 'Son of Man', Christ is challenged to prove that he lives. The speaker asks whether his bones still lie in the 'rock-hewn sepulchre', and begs him to 'Come down' and show his might while his priests and people are slaughtered.
Themes
Faith tested by suffering
The sonnet begins with doubt, not devotion: 'Christ, dost thou live indeed?' The massacre raises the question. If priests 'who call upon thy name are slain', and Christ does not hear 'the bitter wail of pain', perhaps the Rising was 'only dreamed'. The speaker's faith now depends on a sign: 'If Thou in very truth didst burst the tomb'.
Cross and Crescent
The sestet frames the massacre as a struggle between two faiths. Its central image sets 'thy Cross' beneath 'a Crescent moon' rising through 'the starless night', and the final line fears that 'Muhammad be crowned instead of Thee'. The speaker calls on Christ as both 'Son of God' and 'Son of Man' to defend his own people.
Context
The sonnet belongs to 'Eleutheria', the group of poems on liberty and politics in Wilde's collected poems. Its subtitle names its subject, the massacre of the Christians in Bulgaria, and the poem speaks as if from the scene itself: 'here the air is horrid with men's groans'. It is built as an octave of questions followed by a sestet of appeal.
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