A Stick of Incense
A Stick of Incense - meaning Summary
Sacred Drama and Domesticity
The poem asks where intense religious fervor originates, contrasting grand metaphysical sources—an empty tomb or a virgin womb—with a small domestic moment involving Saint Joseph. The image undercuts apocalyptic expectation by focusing on a bodily, even comic, detail. This juxtaposition collapses sacred drama into ordinary human sensation, suggesting that religious mystery and human triviality coexist and that devotional intensity can spring from surprisingly mundane moments.
Read Complete AnalysesWhence did all that fury come? From empty tomb or Virgin womb? Saint Joseph thought the world would melt But liked the way his finger smelt.
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