Customer Reviews

Sacrifice of Praise: An Anthology of Christian Poetry in English from Caedmon to the Mid-Twentieth Century

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*A Sacrifice of Praise* includes around 700 poems by about 200 poets. The poems are among the best; the poets are each described in biographical paragraphs; each period has a short introduction; the development of most of the major genres is described in special sections. Both a title index and an author index allow cross-referencing. (The general arrangement is chronological by poet's year of birth.) *Cornerstone* magazine reviewer Curt Mortimer says, "The poems in *A Sacrifice of Praise* are chosen irrespective of denominational tradition. On the other hand, they all touch on true Christianity. And how do we know that? Donne's words say it best, 'Though truth and falsehood be near twins, yet truth a little elder is; Be busy to seek her. Believe me this, He is not of none, nor worst, that seeks the best... doubt wisely; in a strange way to stand inquiring right, is not to stray; to sleep or run wrong is.' So this reviewer is glad to strongly recommend *A Sacrifice of Praise*." Likewise this one.

This anthology of poetry will serve as an excellent introduction to those unfamiliar with the genre or as a source of refreshing inspiration to those who know the works.

The book, broken into 12 chapters covering various time periods, offers all sorts of Christian poetry over roughly 1,200 years, from early Anglo-Saxon writings up to 20th Century works.

Authors are introduced with short biographies, as are the time periods to help readers get a sense of how language and religious poetic thought developed. The range of material is amazing, from works predating the Venerable Bede to Madeline L'Engle's plea to God to learn how to pray, written as she rode a New York City bus.

I found this to be a beautiful collection of value to anyone interested in Christian thought and prayer.

As an evangelical, I am suprised that others of my persuasion have not discovered the treasure chest of beauty and devotion in Christian poetry. I consider it truely sublime and find reading it slowly and quietly to be a fountain of great devotional interest. I keep this volume on the shelf next to my bed and turn to it often.

This anthology in particular is an outstanding introduction to the excellence and beauty of Christian poetry. Buy it and read it slowly and prayerfully. Max Lucado is fine but sometimes it's good to think outside the box. Give this a try.

I use [...] curriculum. This year we are in year 7 and the foundation of this year is the Anglo-Saxon time period of British history.

I am so thankful for this book. I am really struggling with our year 7 curriculum and understanding some of the literature (Ivanhoe and the poem assigned for memory).

This morning I decided to read some "Middle English" poems from this resource. I was floundering, and about ready to just "forget it". Seriously, who can understand a poem like this!?

A Song of Passion

My trewest tresowre sa trayturly was taken,
Sa bytterly bondyn wyth bytand banders,
How sone of thi seruandes was thou forsaken,
And lathly for my lufe hurld with thair handes.....

and on and on we go!!!

My overwhelmed mind is thinking "How in the world are we going to comprehend Beowulf later this year?!

STOP!!! Take a breath. Would Charlotte Mason throw it all out just because she does not "get it"? What would Charlotte do if she were presented with a daunting task of teaching something of which she has no understanding? She would "self-educate".

This morning I began reading the introduction to the "Anglo-Saxon/Middle English" section of A Sacrifice of Praise. The historical context set ablaze in the recesses of my mind, the first chapter of Ivanhoe, of
which I had read a few weeks ago. I proceeded to Google search "Anglo-Saxon and Middle English" and have stumbled upon some very interesting information about the evolution of our language.

I want to thank Lynn Bruce for recommending this book at our last meeting. I do believe that this book is going to do a work in my soul. I endeavor to press onward and slowly read through this poetry that has me groping. A Sacrifice of Praise is a shining beam to help lead the blind into a new world of undiscovered terrain.

I do believe this should be a recommended "teacher resource" for AmblesideOnline educators. I plan to use this for historical referencing in all of our poetry study.

It starts in the 4th century or so, and continues with great poems until mid twentieth century. It includes biographies of most of the poets, so you can know who they were, and what they did. It has some of the very best poems that I have ever read.

The Christian's song thru the ages, yet tinged by place in history. The wit of Alexander Pope, the martyr's courage of Anne Askew, the perspective of John Oxenham, the triumphant perseverance of Paul Laurence Dunbar, the perspicuity of C.S.Lewis, and more. This anthology is organized by historic period ("Early Victorian," for ex) and then within each period the poems are grouped by poet, with a brief bio given for each. Though the poets are of different theological backgrounds (Catholic, Protestant, Unitarian), their backgrounds are noted in the bios and the actual selections are pretty mainstream theologically.

As an evangelical Christian, I continue to wonder why many evangelicals have not discovered Christian poetry for the treasure storehouse that it has always been in the English speaking world. This book is a feast to the mind as well as the spirit and is the perfect introduction to Christian poetry for the thoughtful Christian.

Max Lucado is fine but do yourself a favor and step outside the box. Buy it and read it slowly, carefully, thoughtfully and prayerfully.