''Good Friday: A Play in Verse'' is a 1914 work by English poet

John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer. He was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death in 1967, during which time he lived at Burcot, Oxfordshire, near Abingdon ...

, first published in ''

The Fortnightly Review ''The Fortnightly Review'' was one of the most prominent and influential magazines in nineteenth-century England. It was founded in 1865 by Anthony Trollope, Frederic Harrison, Edward Spencer Beesly, and six others with an investment of £9,000 ...

'' in December 1915. ''Good Friday and Other Poems'' was published in New York in 1916 by

The Macmillan Company Macmillan Inc. (also known as Macmillan US, and formerly The Macmillan Company) was an American book publishing company originally established as the American division of the British Macmillan Publishers. The two were later separated and acqui ...

and 1917 Heinemann, London. By 1913 Masefield was best known for his long narrative poem, ''Dauber'', and the

St James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham (tenor), John Braham; it lost mone ...

was reviving his plays ''The Witch'' and ''Nan''. Good Friday 1914, was on the eve of war. Following the 1916 publication, the poet

Edmund Blunden Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) was an English poet, author, and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was als ...

recalled reading ''Good Friday'' in a frontline dugout in

Richebourg-l'Avoué Richebourg-l'Avoué is a village and former commune in the Pas-de-Calais region of France. It was merged with Richebourg-Saint-Vaast to form the commune of Richebourg on 21 February 1971. The village was the site of the Attack on the Boar's ...

just as their sentry was killed by a sniper. :''As to the success he achieves in attempting to deal with so tremendous a theme as that of his dramatic poem,

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

, there may well be a difference of opinion''
-

North American Review The ''North American Review'' (''NAR'') was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale (journalist), Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which i ...

April 1916 Setting the scene following the

crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...

in ''Good Friday'', Masefield directs that Pilate should enter "''as the darkness reddens to a glare."'' A German translation of ''Good Friday'', by

Erich Fried Erich Fried (6 May 1921 – 22 November 1988) was an Austrian-born poet, writer, and translator. He initially became known to a broader public in both Germany and Austria for his political poetry, and later for his love poems. As a writer, he ...

, was broadcast on the

BBC German Service The Londoner Rundfunk (German: ''London Broadcasting''; English: ''German Service'') of the BBC was a German language radio service running from 1938 until 1999 as part of the wider BBC European Service. It began operating during the Second W ...

in 1951. 14 April 1960 saw the broadcast of Hugh Stewart's

Home Service Home Service is a British folk rock group, formed in late 1980 from a nucleus of musicians who had been playing in Ashley Hutchings' Albion Band. Their career is generally agreed to have peaked with the album ''Alright Jack'', and has had a ...

production of ''Good Friday'', in which actors William Devlin and

Ursula O'Leary Ursula O'Leary (Birmingham, 10 March 1926 – 17 May 1993) was an English stage, radio and television actor.Deaths, The Times, 19 May 1993 O'Leary graduated in stage management from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in 1948. Her stage ...

, as

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

and

Procula The unnamed wife of Pontius Pilate appears only once in the Gospel of Matthew (27:19), where she intercedes with Pilate on Jesus' behalf. It is uncertain whether Pilate was actually married, although it is likely. In later tradition, she becomes k ...

, perform to the atmospheric

sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...

of the

BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce Incidental music, incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering ...

's soundware, such as the

EMS Synthi 100 The EMS Synthi 100 was a large analogue/digital hybrid synthesizer made by Electronic Music Studios, London, originally as a custom order from Radio Belgrade for what was to be the Radio Belgrade Electronic Studio, largely thanks to contact betw ...

and ARP Odyssey l.

John Masefield Society John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer. He was Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death in 1967, during which time he lived at Burcot, Oxfordshire, near Abingdon-on-Thames. Among his best known wo ...

:
Good Friday: A Play in Verse (1916)
'

References

{{reflist English poetry collections