“Lady Wisdom” a poem from Proverbs 1

Lady Wisdom calls in the streets
    above the noise she cries:
“Simple ones, how long will you be
    deceived by wicked lies?
Silly fools, you covet and seek
    a life that’s free to live.
Scornful people, why do you mock
    the wisdom that I give?”

Lady Wisdom dies in the way;
    she’s murdered by the mob. 
Wicked people now own the day;
    they lie, destroy, and rob.
Ruling with a thirst for new blood,
     they kill in search for life.
New Life’s herald breathes in the tomb;
     there’s hope beneath the strife. 

Lady Wisdom laughs in the streets
     at those who thought they’d won.
Ruling not with a call of peace,
     but with a sword she’s come.
Terror like a whirlwind is here,
     calamity, a storm.
“Seed you’ve sown with Death’s darkest deeds,
     and death to you is born.”

*****

The Full Poem with Scripture References

I try to write with an open Bible. Here are footnotes that reveal the Scripture references that prompted these lines.

Lady Wisdom calls in the streets^[1]
    above the noise she cries:^[2]
“Simple ones, how long will you be
    deceived by wicked lies?^[3]
Silly fools, you covet and seek
    a life that’s free to live.^[4]
Scornful people, why do you mock
    the wisdom that I give?”^[5]

Lady Wisdom dies in the way;
    she’s murdered by the mob.^[6]
Wicked people now own the day;
    they lie, destroy, and rob.^[7]
Ruling with a thirst for new blood,
     they kill in search of life. ^[8]
New Life’s herald breathes in the tomb;
     there’s hope beneath the strife.^[9]

Lady Wisdom laughs in the streets^[10]
     at those who thought they’d won.
Ruling not with a call of peace,
     but with a sword, she’s come.
Terror like a whirlwind is here,
     calamity, a storm.^[11]
“Seed you’ve sown with Death’s darkest deeds,^[12]
     and death to you is born.”^[13]

---

^[1] Proverbs 1:20.

^[2] Proverbs 1:21.

^[3] Proverbs 1:22a.

^[4] Proverbs 1:22c.

^[5] Proverbs 1:22b.

^[6] Lady wisdom is not killed in Proverbs 1, but in Proverbs 8, she is likened unto Christ (see especially verses 22-24) who was rejected and crucified. In 1 Corinthians, 1:18-25, the crucified Christ is the Wisdom of God that we preach.

^[7] Proverbs 1:16.

^[8] Proverbs 1:11, 13.

^[9] See note 6.  Proverbs 8:38.

^[10] Proverbs 1:26.

^[11] Proverbs 1:27.

^[12] Proverbs 1:31.

^[13] Proverbs 1:32; 1:18; 8:36. 

Additional Notes

For more poetry, check out this poem from Psalm 118, “Save Us, O Lord.”

The artwork used is Deborah Praises Jael, by Gustave Dore (1865).