Cumberland Calvary Essay

— The Corvey Poets Project at the University of Nebraska —

British Poetry of the later Eighteenth and Earlier Nineteenth Centuries

Bibliographical and Contextual Apparatus

Richard Cumberland

Calvary; or, The Death of Christ. New ed. 2 vols. London: Lackington and Allen, 1800.

Descriptive Essay

To begin, this poem was eight books long. Each book was more like a chapter from a book, so some would think of the poem as a book with eight chapters. This poem goes into depth about what led up to the death of Jesus Christ. The following description will discuss each one of the books and give a short excerpt from a couple of the books.

Book one begins with Satan walking alone in the woods at night. As he is walking, he is going over the miraculous works of Jesus in his head. In the time that he is walking, he soon finds himself at the very spot in which he had once tried to practice his temptations upon Christ. I stress the word "tried," because Satan had failed in his attempt. While contemplating the failure in his head, he vents. Upon being disappointed and impatient, he goes to the summit of the mountain in which he had viewed the kingdoms of the earth and there he calls upon the devils from all parts of the "Heathen World" (pg. 3):
          Hail, awful Calvary! Forsaking now
          Aonian haunts and the unhallow'd Nine,
          I visit thy sad mount, and thence invite
          The mournful echoes to my deep-ton'd harp. (3)
As all are gathered together, Satan discusses the subject at hand, taking Jesus out of power. During this "meeting," there are disagreements as to what action should be taken in accomplishing their mission against Christ. Examples of the disagreements are: one of the devils suggests seduction as the answer while another devil believes that seduction is desperate and disgraceful. During these disagreements, one devil suggests tempting one of the twelve disciples by the evil spirit called Mammon. Mammon was to attempt the fidelity of Judas since he (Judas) is the only one of the disciples who is open to seduction. This book ends in Mammon accepting the mission of tempting Judas, and he starts toward the city of Jerusalem.

Moving into book two, Mammon arrives at Jerusalem and goes in search of Judas. Soon enough, Mammon runs into Judas and begins having a conversation with him. It is then that Mammon tells Judas that there will be rewards for him if he will betray his Master (Christ) and tell the priests where Jesus would be found. Judas is supposed to give an answer the same evening to the priests. The scene of the poem then changes to show Jesus with his twelve disciples at his last supper. Here, Jesus talks to his disciples, while washing their feet, about his upcoming death and about who the betrayer is. When Jesus points to Judas, Judas storms out of the room. Jesus continues his conversation with the other eleven disciples and makes a promise to them to support them during their future tribulations. This book ends with Jesus going to the garden to pray.

In book three, the poem continues with Judas walking alone through the streets of the city. By this time, Judas has already separated himself from Jesus. While walking through the streets, Judas is thinking about what had just happened back with Jesus and the eleven disciples. Here he is finding excuses in justifying his betrayal of his Master to the priests. Upon walking, Judas spots Jesus and the other disciples walking to the Mount of Olives. The scene of the poem then changes to the priests and elders whom who are assembling in the palace of Caiobas and deciding what measures to take in the apprehension of Jesus. Judas soon arrives at the palace and carries out his betrayal of Jesus by telling the priests where Jesus could be found. Caiobas sends out a company of officers, along with the disciple, to the Mount of Olives to apprehend Jesus. The hall of the palace is soon empty, then the seats are filled with Satan and the other evil spirits. During this gathering, Satan congratulates everyone on the temptation of Judas and Chemos, one of the spirits, appears wounded from the spear of Gabriel. Satan, who is then angered at the situation, arms himself for revenge and disappears. The poem then moves into the next book.

The scene in book four turns to Jesus, who is in the woods, in agony and praying. His disciples fall asleep after Jesus had told them to keep watch lest they fall into the hands of temptation. Satan then appears to the spot where Jesus is praying and by the word of power, Jesus casts Satan to the ground disabled in torment. Satan testifies to the power and grace of Christ and is then cast off of the earth. After that, Judas then arrives with an armed company and betrays Christ with a kiss. Jesus is then seized and taken to the palace of the high priest Caiobas. The scene ends for this book.

Book five continues with Jesus being brought before the priests and elders. This is where Jesus is accused of being a blasphemer and therefore worthy of death. The poem then goes into discussion of how Jesus looks at Peter, whom he predicts will deny him three times. After being tormented, Jesus is brought in front of Pilate to decide a verdict. It is then that Pilate finds no reason whatsoever to put Jesus to death and sends him to Herod. Herod mocks Jesus and sends him back to Pilate. Pilate still finds no reason for calling for Jesus's death, but because of the multitude of the crowd chanting and demanding the crucifixion of Christ, Pilate has no choice but to follow the people's demand. However, Pilate claims innocence of the blood of Jesus:
          Behold! He cries, I pour this water forth,
          And therein make ablution of my soul
          From all participation in your crime,
          By washing my hands from every stain
          Of this inhuman sacrifice, each spot
          And sprinkling of this guiltless victim's blood.
          Rest on your heads the murder! I am clean. (42-43)
This book ends with Pilate delivering Jesus to be crucified.

Book six continues with explaining how Judas resented what he had done and therefore returned the silver coins to the priests. The evil spirit Mammon then follows Judas and forces him to destroy himself. The poem then goes to Mount Calvary where the crucifixion will take place. The soldiers take Jesus and nail his hands and feet to a cross. The priests then mock Jesus and call upon him to come down from the cross if he is the son of God. Aside from Jesus, there were two other men who were also being crucified. One man also mocked Jesus, but the other man repented and asked for forgiveness. Jesus then promised the repented man immediate salvation and glory in Heaven.
          This said, the penitent with faith inspir'd
          Upon the Savior turn'd his dying eyes,
          And—Lord! He cried with supplicating voice,
          When to thy heav'nly kingdom thou shalt come,
          Oh then remember me!— To him the Lord—
          I tell thee of a truth this very day
          Thou shall be found in Paradise with me. (76)
Soon after Jesus dies, the sun darkens and earthquakes start. The priests get startled but go to Pilate demanding that Pilate send guards to watch the body of Jesus in case the disciples try to steal his body, claiming his resurrection. The poem then goes into book seven.

Book seven talks about how the disciples and the Blessed Virgin Mary look upon the lifeless body of Jesus who is still hanging from the cross. The soldiers then break the legs of the other two men to assure their death. Seeing that Jesus is dead, one of the soldiers stabs him in his heart with a spear as blood and water start to spill out. The scene then jumps to Satan who was expelled from earth. Satan finds himself at the foot of the throne of Death. Death hurls Satan into the bottomless pit and it is there that Satan is bound by the strong angel. Death then goes to Jesus and sets a key at the feet of Jesus. This key is said to set free the souls of the saints. Jesus then gives the key to Gabriel with instructions to release the souls. Jesus forewarns Death of his doom, but reminds him that dissolution of his power will not be immediate. It is then that the poem moves into the final book.

The final book of the poem explains how Jesus waits for the first resurrection of the saints with Gabriel. This part of the poem is where the saints pay homage to their Redeemer through songs of praise and thanksgiving. Jesus address the saints and assures them of the blessings of eternal life given to them by the Father as a reward of righteousness. Soon, the patriarch Abraham shows Jesus the vision of Jerusalem. When the vision is passed away, Jesus re ascends to earth in view of the whole assembly of saints. The angel Gabriel then explains to the saints the origin and necessity of evil from which he deduces the benefits of Christ's death and redemption. Afterwards, the spirit of God descends into the hearts of the righteous and inspires them with all understanding and knowledge. This great poem then finishes with Gabriel addressing the saints one . . . last . . . time.

While reading this poem, I tended to find a similarity between the poem, which is itself filled with echoes of Milton's Paradise Lost, and the movie The Passion of the Christ. There was a great resemblance with the movie and the poem in the description of the events that led up to the death of Christ. Cumberland did a very good job in giving factual information based on the bible. Given the details in the poem, I feel that it is safe to assume that Cumberland knew the Bible well (as well as Paradise Lost) and therefore displaying his religious side. Throughout the poem, there was a sense of melancholy. One could get a sense that things are not going well for Jesus in the poem and that the inevitable is about to happen, the death of Christ. Cumberland also does a good job in making a picture with the words. By this I mean I was able to see what was happening in the poem along with reading it. I can't think of any negative aspects of the poem other than the print was really light at times which made the poem difficult to read, but that's not the poet's fault. This is a great poem and I would recommend it to anyone interested in reading about Christ.