The Adoration of the Kings (Jan Gossaert, "Mabuse")

#58

A convention of Renaissance nativity scenes:
The ruined stone architecture, as though Christ
Could not be born in a hovel, nor in a palace
Of new magnificence, befitting the King of Kings.
The crumbling pretensions, the unearned rights
And privileges of men, of good will or malice,
Who take or inherit power, surround the Child.
Then who are these kings to show adoration,
Who offer gold while angels gather overhead?
What is being redeemed, what evil exiled?
Will each king, restored, return to his nation,
Resurrect the rights of the living? Of the dead?
A dog tears at a scrap in the foreground,
A perfect imitation of a hungry hound.

St. Jerome Penitent (by Jan Gossaert, called Mabuse), Sonnet #2

Trees are crosses and this cross a tree.

The man is diminished by hanging,

Not by his suffering -- which is only a fee

In return for what is beyond questioning --

But by the distance between himself and the earth.

There are two ways to respond to such love,

By kneeling and by not kneeling. Let death,

Which has no meaning below or above,

Being only the Sphinx with no riddle to ask,

Stop its shallow breathing just long enough

To confirm the man in his eternal task.

Let him answer silence with a barking cough. 

Only then shall I climb that tree as well

Without fear of heaven or hope of hell.

Here is another poem about St. Jerome: 
http://christopherguerin.blogspot.com/2010/05/st-jerome.html