Customer Reviews

Divine Inspiration: The Life of Jesus in World Poetry

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This anthology has almost 300 poems about the life of Jesus. The variety of poets and poems is impressive. Because it is arranged chronologically, instead of by author, it is easy for the reader to find poems focusing on a specific part of Jesus' life. This gives the reader the opportunity to discover new works that can enrich their spiritual lives and their appreciation of world literature.

"Divine Inspiration" is an anthology of "world poetry" (in English and English-translation) which will take readers back to authors perhaps already known (Hildegard of Bingen, John of the Cross, Leonard Cohen) and on to those who may be less-familiar (Jacopone da Todi, Miguel Unamuno, Sarah N. Cleghorn). The introduction by co-editor Peggy Rosenthal provides a concise, "world-poetry" response to Jesus' question, "Who do you say I am?" and serves as a prelude to her subsequent book, "The Poets' Jesus."

The selections are arranged according to a Gospel outline of Jesus birth, life, death and resurrection. In this arrangement, it is similar to David Curzon's "The Gospels in Our Image," which focused on twentienth-century poetry. "Chapters Into Verse," by "Divine Inspiration" co-editor Robert Atwan, was a similar project, based on the entire Bible, drawing on English-only poets. David Impastato, in his "Upholding Mystery" collection, takes his reader on a more thematic "guided retreat" through the poems (or portions thereof) he includes, including those of recent writers such as Scott Cairns and Louise Erdrich.

All of the above contain authors one might not encounter apart from the anthologists' work. None of the above will, perhaps, contain only poems (or poets) deemed entirely worthy of inclusion in a collection claiming "divine inspiration." Each of the above will lead the engaged reader to writers seeking to capture something of the mystery they have encountered in their own language, culture and time.

it's a little beat-up from being in the library, but for the money I put the rating up to 5 stars, the poems are wonderful meditations from many cultures and backgrounds on the Life of Christ