LAZARUS
- Also known as Saint Lazarus or Lazarus of the Four Days
- Subject of an eminent miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John
- Restored to life four days after his death
- Resurrection was so amazing that in the Jewish culture, a person is not actually accepted as being fully dead and with no chance of coming back to life after three days
Biblical Story of Lazarus
Summary of the story
Line 4; "burial stones"
Reference: Jesus' tomb is sealed by a stone in the Bible. John Chapter 20, verse 1: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
Line 12; "Stations of Bereavement"
Reference: the 15 stations of greif from the first stage where Jesus is condemned to death and the fifteenth stage where Jesus arises.
Line 17; "The last hair on his head"
Reference: 'But a hair of your head shall not perish' - Luke 21:18
Mrs. Lazarus is re-stating the promise of Christ in the Gospel of Luke as he talks about the possibility of resurrection for everybody. Hence, hinting the fact that there might be hope that Lazarus may live once again but she contradicts this with adding the word 'last' which may signify Lazarus' last chance at life.
Mrs. Lazarus is re-stating the promise of Christ in the Gospel of Luke as he talks about the possibility of resurrection for everybody. Hence, hinting the fact that there might be hope that Lazarus may live once again but she contradicts this with adding the word 'last' which may signify Lazarus' last chance at life.
Line 35; "the crowd parting in front of me."
Reference: This is a textual reference to when Moses parts the Red Sea in the Bible, Exodus 14. When closely analyzing the Bible passage, the Israelites put their faith into God and hence were saved by him. God gave Moses to split the Red Sea and the Israelites were able to escape and were saved.
This textual reference raises the question in the poem if the resurrection of the husband is also "saving" the widow. When the "crowd [is] parting in front of me [the widow" the wife and resurrected husband are standing across from each other. At this point, the husband could be the savior from the grief. However, Duffy is raising the question if the resurrection of the husband is really a salvation or the opposite.
More on this intertextual reference:
Video: Bible Stories - Moses Parts the Red Sea
Summary: Crossing the Red sea