Poetry Essay #2 - The Prayer of Cyrus Brown

Megan Drake

AP English Literature and Composition

Wilson – Bell 4

10 February, 2014

Poetry Essay #2

The Prayer of Cyrus Brown

By Sam Walter Foss

            In his poem The Prayer of Cyrus Brown, Sam Walter Foss uses culturally specific diction to depict how society has turned religion into a culture instead of a faith. Similar to a theme in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, true spiritual and moral growth occurred outside of the rules and regulations of “civilized” religion and society.

            Not only does Mark Twain depict nature as a place where true, strong character is developed, but he also expresses the idea that organized church and religion thwarts this development in the 19^th century Mississippi River culture. Similarly expressed in Foss’ poem, “Deacon Lemuel Keyes” describes “the only proper attitude” to pray (Foss 2-3). The use of the Christian title, “Deacon,” - obviously elevating the social standing of Lemuel Keyes - serves to separate the average Christian from the religious teacher. This separation creates a barrier between the religious leaders and the members of the religion, perhaps limiting the actual teaching and learning that should occur. A closer relationship is required for closer understanding of the principles being taught. This hierarchy in the church, formed through the use of titles like “Deacon,” “Reverend Dr. Wise,” or “Elder Snow,”  allowed Foss to portray this form of Christianity as more of a culture than a faith-filled religion. This is also seen in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as the congregation settled into the pews and Twain lists the order of those filing up the aisles, “the mayor and his wife,” later, the “justice of the peace,” and the “belle of the village” all entering before the average members. These echelons also function to shift the focus away from morals and strong character building – especially the idea of equality.

            Foss uses this culturally specific dialect of the highly-educated preachers and pastors in contrast with the speech of Cyrus Brown to exemplify that religious leaders were replacing true religious practices with traditions and customs. Also seen in the deacon’s declaration of “the only proper attitude to pray” (Foss 3) is the focus on how religion is practiced – not why it is practiced or even the purpose it serves for its followers. This focus, as various religious leaders argue back and forth about whether prayer should be “with eyes fast closed” (Foss 11) or “rapt and upturned eyes” (Foss 8), exemplifies the frivolous discussion taking the place of true moral discussion and learning. The elevated diction demonstrates a single-mindedness for the details, like one’s posture while praying, and a failure to find meaning in the practice. In contrast, Cyrus Brown’s speech reflects less education through the “prayingest prayer [he] ever prayed” (Foss 23), yet only Cyrus is able to eradicate the empty dialogue with an actual, biblical meaning of prayer – the idea of communicating with one’s maker, despite his incorrect grammar. Twain expresses this idea as well as he commentates on the church service in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as he writes, “Often, the less there is to justify a traditional custom the harder it is to get rid of it” (Twain 53).

            Both Twain and Foss were able to identify the insincerity in organized religion and a lack of focus on Christ in Christianity. This problem permeates through the bible itself as the Pharisees and Sadducees dispute with the apostles about the details of practices until Christ himself says, “Thus have ye made the commandments of God of none effect by your tradition” (King James Version, Matthew 15.6). The culturally specific diction of the two authors diagnosed Christianity with this social epidemic that invaded religion, and depict the shift from faith to form.