Chapters into Verse: Volume One: Genesis to Malachi
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Chapters into Verse: Volume One: Genesis to Malachi by Robert Atwan
For generations, poets have turned to the Bible for insight and inspiration. What did so many creative minds find in scripture? Is the Bible still a vital source of poetic inspirations? Chapters Into Verse is the first comprehensive collection ever made of poems written in English inspired by the Bible. A groundbreaking anthology, it introduces readers to a distinct heritage of English poetry: the scriptural tradition. Though frequently ignored and sometimes suppressed, this tradition rivals the classical and is every bit as venerable. Drawing a unique map of the history of English poetry, the two volumes of Chapters Into Verse survey and define the literary legacy of the Scriptures from the fourteenth century to the present. Each volume is arranged in scriptural order, and each poem is preceded by the biblical passage that inspired it. Thus readers can conveniently witness the various ways sacred text has sparked the imagination of poets throughout the ages. In Volume I, which covers Genesis to Malachi, almost every book of the Old Testament is represented. The collection features verses both famous and unfamiliar, from Milton's Paradise Lost and Lord Byron's Hebrew Melodies to Christopher Smart's hymns and Mary Herbert's psalms. The editors have included poems by virtually all the prominent religious poets--among them, John Donne, George Herbert, Henry Vaughan, Edward Taylor, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Included, too, are devotional and visionary works from a wide range of vintage poets--Robert Burns, William Blake, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, Alfred Tennyson, and Robert Browning. Proving that the Bible is just as powerful a source of inspiration today as it was in the past, the collection assembles a mixed congregation of modern and contemporary poets, such as Marianne Moore, Delmore Schwartz, Dylan Thomas, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Countee Cullen, e.e. cummings, William Butler Yeats, Robert Lowell, Hugh McDiarmid, Laura (Riding) Jackson, Charles Reznikoff, A.D. Hope, Geoffrey Hill, Denise Levertov, Philip Levine, John Ashbery, and Derek Walcott. Of enduring interest to readers of both scripture and literature, this anthology illuminates key passages of the Old Testament. The measured speech and inspired leaps of poetry offer a spirited alternative to the textual exegesis usually supplied by prose commentary. As such, Chapters Into Verse is truly a poets' Bible. In selection after selection, readers will encounter an astonishing variety of religious experiences, as a host of poets from many eras and many backgrounds respond to Holy Scripture spiritually, profoundly, and imaginatively.
Astonishing that no one has come up with the idea before! The result is a two-volume work that elucidates and sometimes contradicts the writings that form the basis of Judeo-Christian beliefTo read these Scripture passages and the poems that follow them is to take an unusual, reflective journey through the Bible and through the history of English poetry. Highly recommended for all libraries.' Judy Clarence, Cal. State Univ. Lib., Hayward
'a brave and commendable venture by these two American anthologists to gather a formidable array of verse which in their phrase directly "responds to" scripture and to place it alongside the appropriate biblical passages' Arthur Pollard, Church Times
'The editor's range has been extremely wide ... I cannot imagine the work as a whole being better done.' Peter Levi, Catholic Herald
A wealth of literature and poetry is collected by Robert Atwan in these volumes which will last the reader for many years. In common with all anthologies there is a great deal which can be found in other collections. It follows a great tradition of such books and will prove to be a valuable devotional aid, much appreciated by those with wider poetic appreciation.' John Dale, Methodist Recorder
'Every now and again an anthology appears which manages to open one's eyes to a new aspect of literature. This two-volume collection is one such, a thick, rich anthology of poetry inspired by the Bible. Imagine the difference if you gave this to your vicar. As he prepared the week's sermon, besides looking up the Hebrew or Greek meaning, he could also choose a relevant piece of poetry. Even if the sermon was rubbish, the congregation would get a bit of decent verse.' The Sign, February 1994
'Now that so many readers come to literature entirely ignorant of its Christian heritage, this collection fills an unfortunately necessary gap.' English Studies, Volume 75, Number 6, November 1994
'a brave and commendable venture by these two American anthologists to gather a formidable array of verse which in their phrase directly "responds to" scripture and to place it alongside the appropriate biblical passages' Arthur Pollard, Church Times
'The editor's range has been extremely wide ... I cannot imagine the work as a whole being better done.' Peter Levi, Catholic Herald
A wealth of literature and poetry is collected by Robert Atwan in these volumes which will last the reader for many years. In common with all anthologies there is a great deal which can be found in other collections. It follows a great tradition of such books and will prove to be a valuable devotional aid, much appreciated by those with wider poetic appreciation.' John Dale, Methodist Recorder
'Every now and again an anthology appears which manages to open one's eyes to a new aspect of literature. This two-volume collection is one such, a thick, rich anthology of poetry inspired by the Bible. Imagine the difference if you gave this to your vicar. As he prepared the week's sermon, besides looking up the Hebrew or Greek meaning, he could also choose a relevant piece of poetry. Even if the sermon was rubbish, the congregation would get a bit of decent verse.' The Sign, February 1994
'Now that so many readers come to literature entirely ignorant of its Christian heritage, this collection fills an unfortunately necessary gap.' English Studies, Volume 75, Number 6, November 1994
Robert Atwan is founder and series editor of the annual Best American Essays. The editor of numerous anthologies, he has written on the ancient literature of the Near East and his critical essays and poetry reviews have appeared in many national periodicals. Laurance Wieder is the author of several volumes of poetry, including The Coronet of Tours; No Harm Done; The Last Century: Selected Poems;
and One Hundred Fifty Psalms, a complete psalter. He has taught Bible and Ancient Authors at Cornell University.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780195069136 |
| ISBN 10 | 0195069137 |
| Title | Chapters into Verse: Volume One: Genesis to Malachi |
| Author | Robert Atwan |
| Series | Chapters Into Verse |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press Inc |
| Year published | 1993-10-28 |
| Number of pages | 512 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |