The Personalization and Parallel of the Crucifixion: The Dream of the Rood

While reading this poem, I felt drawn in to the dream itself. The overall theme of synonymous transformation that took place between Jesus and the tree was interesting to say the least. There is a transition from being something beautiful that gives life (Jesus Christ being in Heaven and the cross being a tree) to becoming less than their worth (Christ becoming man and the tree becoming a cross) all to become a symbol cemented in history. The wretched things that happened to Jesus were personified in the tree. In the poem Kennedy wrote, "They pierced me through with darksome nails; on me the scars are manifest, the open, woeful wounds." Despite all of the hardships both Christ and the cross endured, the part that stood out to me was the cross saying, "Yet dared I not work harm to any of them." Even as Jesus endured the harsh acts of man with a nonviolent mentality, the cross did so as well." The cross was a firsthand witness to the entirety of the crucifixion and as it endured the hardships as Christ did, it was rewarded. The cross was in a dark place but when it connected with Christ, it was transformed to something bigger than itself. So as men and women of Christ, we may see some dark days, some struggles, and hardships but when we get connected to Christ, we can become something greater than what can imagine for ourselves. 

-Marlon Barrows