Project: Biblical figures as poems
Start with John the Baptist
Gather relevant scriptures
For Jesus and his times, I think I’ll prefer Mark, since that’s generally considered to be the oldest of the Gospels.
I guess writings attributed to Paul are older, so where applicable they should be used too.
And figure out a good structure for each poem, for starters we’ll base them on poems by Yeats.

Mark 1 (Young’s Literal Translation)
1 A beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, Son of God.
2 As it hath been written in the prophets, `Lo, I send My messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee,’ —
3 `A voice of one calling in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, straight make ye his paths,’ —
4 John came baptizing in the wilderness, and proclaiming a baptism of reformation — to remission of sins,
5 and there were going forth to him all the region of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and they were all baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and a girdle of skin around his loins, and eating locusts and honey of the field,
7 and he proclaimed, saying, `He doth come — who is mightier than I — after me, of whom I am not worthy — having stooped down — to loose the latchet of his sandals;
8 I indeed did baptize you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’
9 And it came to pass in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John at the Jordan;
10 and immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens dividing, and the Spirit as a dove coming down upon him;
11 and a voice came out of the heavens, `Thou art My Son — the Beloved, in whom I did delight.’
12 And immediately doth the Spirit put him forth to the wilderness,
13 and he was there in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by the Adversary, and he was with the beasts, and the messengers were ministering to him.
14 And after the delivering up of John [ie: after John was sent to prison], Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of the reign of God,
15 and saying — `Fulfilled hath been the time, and the reign of God hath come nigh, reform ye, and believe in the good news.’
16 And, walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon, and Andrew his brother, casting a drag into the sea, for they were fishers,
17 and Jesus said to them, `Come ye after me, and I shall make you to become fishers of men;’

Mark 6 (Young’s literal translation)
And having gone forth they were preaching that [men] might reform,
13 and many demons they were casting out, and they were anointing with oil many infirm, and they were healing [them].
14 And the king Herod heard, (for his name became public,) and he said — `John the Baptist out of the dead was raised, and because of this the mighty powers are working in him.’
15 Others said — `It is Elijah,’ and others said — `It is a prophet, or as one of the prophets.’
16 And Herod having heard, said — `He whom I did behead — John — this is he; he was raised out of the dead.’
17 For Herod himself, having sent forth, did lay hold on John, and bound him in the prison, because of Herodias the wife of Philip his brother, because he married her,
18 for John said to Herod — `It is not lawful to thee to have the wife of thy brother;’
19 and Herodias was having a quarrel with him, and was willing to kill him, and was not able,
20 for Herod was fearing John, knowing him a man righteous and holy, and was keeping watch over him, and having heard him, was doing many things, and hearing him gladly.
21 And a seasonable day having come, when Herod on his birthday was making a supper to his great men, and to the chiefs of thousands, and to the first men of Galilee,
22 and the daughter of that Herodias having come in, and having danced, and having pleased Herod and those reclining (at meat) with him, the king said to the damsel, `Ask of me whatever thou wilt, and I will give to thee,’
23 and he sware to her — `Whatever thou mayest ask me, I will give to thee — unto the half of my kingdom.’
24 And she, having gone forth, said to her mother, `What shall I ask for myself?’ and she said, `The head of John the Baptist;’
25 and having come in immediately with haste unto the king, she asked, saying, `I will that thou mayest give me presently, upon a plate, the head of John the Baptist.’
26 And the king — made very sorrowful — because of the oaths and of those reclining (at meat) with him, would not put her away,
27 and immediately the king having sent a guardsman, did command his head to be brought,
28 and he having gone, beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head upon a plate, and did give it to the damsel, and the damsel did give it to her mother;
29 and having heard, his disciples came and took up his corpse, and laid it in the tomb.
30 And the apostles are gathered together unto Jesus, and they told him all, and how many things they did, and how many things they taught,
31 and he said to them, `Come ye yourselves apart to a desert place, and rest a little,’ for those coming and those going were many, and not even to eat had they opportunity,
32 and they went away to a desert place, in the boat, by themselves.
33 And the multitudes saw them going away, and many recognised him, and by land from all the cities they ran thither, and went before them, and came together to him,
34 and having come forth, Jesus saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion on them, that they were as sheep not having a shepherd, and he began to teach many things.

Josephus’s Antiquities of the Jews Book 18, Ch 5, 2

Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod’s [Antipas’s] army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise,) thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod’s suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. Now the Jews had an opinion that the destruction of this army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God’s displeasure to him.

Under this passage, Wikipedia has the following commentary:

According to this passage, the execution of John was blamed for the defeat Herod suffered. Some have claimed that this passage indicates that John died near the time of the destruction of Herod’s army in AD 36. However, in a different passage, Josephus states that the end of Herod’s marriage with Aretas’ daughter (after which John was killed) was only the beginning of hostilities between Herod and Aretas, which later escalated into the battle.[91]

Biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan differentiates between Josephus’s account of John and Jesus, saying, “John had a monopoly, but Jesus had a franchise.” To get baptized, Crossan writes, a person went only to John; to stop the movement one only needed to stop John (therefore his movement ended with his death). Jesus invited all to come and see how he and his companions had already accepted the government of God, entered it and were living it. Such a communal praxis was not just for himself, but could survive without him, unlike John’s movement.

The Stolen Child
From The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems
Yeats in 1886 (age 21)

Where dips the rocky highland
Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water rats;
There we’ve hid our faery vats,
Full of berrys
And of reddest stolen cherries.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim gray sands with light,
Far off by furthest Rosses
We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles,
While the world is full of troubles
And anxious in its sleep.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glen-Car,
In pools among the rushes
That scarce could bathe a star,
We seek for slumbering trout
And whispering in their ears
Give them unquiet dreams;
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Over the young streams.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

Away with us he’s going,
The solemn-eyed:
He’ll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hillside
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast,
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal chest.
For he comes, the human child,
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than he can understand.

Three stanzas: John a voice in the wilderness; John and Jesus; John’s death