Compositions

The text for Good Friday comes from Christina Rossetti’s poem of that name. In the beginning of the poem, the poet laments her unmoved soul as she ponders the crucifixion, wondering “Am I a stone, and not a sheep…?” In the last stanza of the poem, she brings this question back and asks the “True Shepherd” to seek his sheep, and to come “and smite a rock.”

The text, taken from the beginning of Psalm 19, reflects a childhood delight in this passage. In the beauty of a sunset or sunrise, or the clarity of a bright blue sky, these verses ring true.