Then, achingly, there burst
From Abraham’s retracted lips a cry
Drawn from the depths of his profoundest self,
An atavistic messianic howl,
That rang among the heights, re-echoing,
Resounding in their ears. And now behold!
The normally-impassive patriarch
Stands upright, garments streaming in the wind,
Head raised to altitudes of ecstasy
Arms stretched on high saluting the sublime,
In theomorphic pose. His voice declaims
In thrilling cadence, charged with deference:
“Yes, Lord! Here is Your humble servant, Lord!
What is Your will?”

The Ram in the Thicket narrates in humanistic, non-pious terms and in sensual blank verse the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. A suspenseful adventure story concerned with the extreme demands a religion can impose, the poem raises social and philosophical issues relevant to the world situation today: such issues as the balance between faith and reason, between a leader and the governed masses, between principle and pragmatism. It uses a language both recondite and racy, deploying the full vocabulary resources of the English language.

‘Adrian Brown’s take on the famous biblical tale of Abraham and Isaac is
characteristically venturesome, accomplished and lively.’ — Alan Brownjohn

‘Read this vast poem… Why not?’ — Sir Derek Jacobi

'This suspenseful adventure story raises social and philosophical issues relevant to the world situation today; the balance between faith and reason, between a leader and the governed masses, between principle and pragmatism’
— Dr. Suman Bala, The Indo-American Review

Adrian Brown has had a thirty-year career in theatre and television, winning seven awards as a director, including a BAFTA nomination and an EMMY. Now he has returned to his early love of writing verse. He skilfully sustains long narrative poems, both serious and humorous, in a variety of verse forms. Sahara or Except for George, a picaresque travel narrative, with decorations by Emily Johns, was published by Hearing Eye in 2006.