Fishers of Men

Quiz — Fishers of Men by Alfred Noyes

1. Recall – Form & Opening Tone: How does Noyes establish the mood at the opening of Fishers of Men, and what literary technique gives the poem's beginning a legendary or mythical quality?

1. Recall – Key Image: What do the disciples' brown nets symbolize in the poem, and what does their act of leaving them behind represent?

1. Recall – Invented Symbol: What is meant by the compound term "Spirit-sails," and how does it connect the world of practical seamanship to the poem's spiritual concerns?

1. Recall – Central Allusion: Which biblical moment does Noyes draw on as the poem's foundation, and from which Gospel is this episode taken?

1. Comprehension – Tonal Shift: Describe how the tone of Fishers of Men changes as the poem progresses. What triggers the shift away from the poem's opening reverence?

1. Comprehension – The Repeated Question: What is the emotional effect of the repeated "Was this?" construction in the middle of the poem, and what historical events does Noyes seem to have in mind when he poses it?

1. Comprehension – Two Types of War: According to the poem's moral core, what distinction does Noyes draw between two kinds of conflict? What phrase signals his awareness that even this distinction is fragile or uncertain?

1. Analysis – "Blind Welter": Explain what the phrase "blind welter" conveys about Noyes's view of war, and discuss how it reflects the poem's broader tension between faith and historical reality.

1. Analysis – Symbol of Calvary: Why does Noyes place the image of Calvary at the poem's conclusion? What argument does this positioning make about the nature of true sacrifice and blessing?

1. Analysis – Historical & Biographical Context: How does Noyes's position as a devout Catholic writing during and after the First World War shape the central question of Fishers of Men? What contradiction does the poem expose about Christian civilization?

Answer Key

1. Noyes opens with a hymn-like, lyrical reverence and uses a fairy-tale rhythm—specifically a "long, long ago" construction—to give the scene a legendary, almost mythical quality.

1. The brown nets represent the disciples' everyday life: their work, routine, and worldly concerns. Leaving them behind signals complete commitment to a spiritual calling, which makes the poem's later questioning of Christianity's historical record more painful.

1. "Spirit-sails" is Noyes's invented compound that merges practical seamanship with metaphysical faith, suggesting that the skill and courage needed to navigate the physical sea should equally be applied to navigating the unseen, perilous realm of spiritual purpose.

1. Noyes draws on the Gospel moment in Matthew (Matthew 4:19) when Jesus calls Simon Peter and Andrew from their fishing, promising to make them "fishers of men."

1. The tone moves from reverent and hymn-like, through sharp questioning and raw anguish, to a final note of anguished hope. The shift is triggered by Noyes's confrontation with the violent history carried out in Christianity's name—wars, crusades, and persecution.

1. The repeated "Was this?" functions like an interruption of prayer, giving voice to genuine spiritual crisis. Noyes appears to consider the Crusades, centuries of religious conflict, and most immediately the First World War, in which Christian nations slaughtered one another with their churches' support.

1. Noyes distinguishes between war fought out of genuine justice—to protect the vulnerable—and war driven by power and conquest. The phrase "God help us" signals his awareness that this distinction is uncertain and that even well-intentioned violence is morally fraught.

1. "Blind welter" evokes chaos without direction or meaning, capturing war as purposeless destruction. It reflects the poem's central tension: Noyes cannot fully abandon faith, yet he acknowledges how far the reality of Christian history seems from any heavenly ideal.

1. By placing Calvary at the poem's close, Noyes argues that true blessing is rooted in self-sacrificial suffering rather than in conquest or power. It implies that redemption, if it exists, flows from genuine sacrifice—not from the violent wielding of religion.

1. As a devout Catholic convert, Noyes found it troubling that nations with strong Christian identities waged brutal war against one another, often with church approval. The poem exposes the contradiction between Christianity's founding call to compassion and the two thousand years of bloodshed carried out in its name.