The ninth stanza closes with
the cry "King Saul!"--he represents the last word of physical manhood,
the finest specimen on earth of the athlete. The eighteenth stanza
closes with the cry "See the Christ stand!"--He represents the climax
of all human history, the appearance on earth of God in man. The
first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from
heaven. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also
bear the image of the heavenly.
No modern Pagan has ever sung the joy of life with more gusto than
Browning trolls it out in the ninth stanza. The glorious play of the
muscles, the rapture of the chase, the delight of the plunge into
cold water, the delicious taste of food and wine, the unique
sweetness of deep sleep. No shame attaches to earthly delights: let
us rejoice in our health and strength, in exercise, recreation,
eating and sleeping. Saul was a cowboy before he was a King; and
young David in his music takes the great monarch back to the happy
carefree days on the pasture, before the responsibilities of the
crown had given him melancholia.
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