It Was the Road to Jericho — Text and Context

Diction and the Physicality of Mercy

Johnston's word choices emphasize bodily action and material detail. The Samaritan "got him down from off his beast" and "found the one who bled." The verbs are concrete: stoop, lift, bind, carry. The wounds are described with tactile specificity: "bruised and beaten," "well nigh dead." The oil and wine are not symbolic abstractions but practical remedies. This physicality extends to the stain left on the Samaritan's sleeve—"two red marks" where the bleeding head had lain. Johnston does not spiritualize the act; she grounds it in the mess of contact. The repetition of "red, red lines" in both parts of the poem ties the Samaritan's compassion to Christ's crucifixion through a shared, visceral image.

Structure as a Two-Part Allegory

The poem is divided into three parts, but the first two form a clear parallel. Part I retells the parable in eight stanzas, ending with the Samaritan marked by the cross-shaped stains. Part II opens with "The World pressed toward its Jericho" and follows the same narrative arc: the world is robbed and left for dead, then rescued by the Son of God, who also bears the double stain. The third part shifts to a collective plea: "Oh, who shall staunch such world-wide woe— / Such universe of pain?" The answer is a "million now" who carry Christ's pity. This structural repetition reinforces the idea that the ancient story is reenacted in the present war, with the same pattern of violence and mercy.

The Shift from Individual to Collective

In Part I, the Samaritan acts alone: "He got him down from off his beast, / He found the one who bled." The pronouns are singular, the action solitary. By Part III, the response becomes communal: "There be a million now, / Who bear Christ's pity in their hearts." The poem moves from one man's deed to a multitude. The final stanza is a prayer: "Now God give grace to all who hear." This expansion mirrors the scale of World War I, where individual sacrifice was multiplied across nations. Johnston does not name specific battles or leaders; instead, she universalizes the Samaritan's role, making every compassionate act a participation in the original parable.

Repetition and the Cross Motif

The most striking formal feature is the repeated image of the "two red marks" that form a cross. In Part I, the stain appears on the Samaritan's sleeve; in Part II, it becomes "the Cross of Sacrifice." The phrase "red red lines" recurs verbatim, linking the two figures. Johnston also repeats key words: "Jericho" appears in every part, anchoring the poem to its biblical source. The word "road" is used six times, emphasizing the journey as a central metaphor. This repetition gives the poem a liturgical quality, as if the reader is meant to recite and remember. The cross motif is not explained but presented as an emblem that connects the Samaritan's love to Christ's atonement.

Johnston's poem is best read aloud, its regular meter and rhyme lending themselves to oral performance. The brevity of the work—under 4,000 words—invites multiple readings to trace the parallels between the parable and the war allegory. Pay attention to how the same words shift in meaning across the three parts: the road, the stain, the act of binding. The poem does not argue a thesis; it presents a pattern and asks the reader to see the connection.

Reading the blood-soaked road again, I remembered the First World War, and my grandfather's empty chair. Somehow, It Was the Road to Jericho makes ancient mercy feel like a trench lit by a single lantern. Then I recalled a quieter story, How Rifleman Brown Came to Valhalla — Background and Themes, and felt the same ache—mercy arriving too late, yet still somehow holy.