Saturday, April 19, 2008

Got Poetry?

I used to love poetry. Then I became a Christian, and I somehow got the idea that poetry was a waste of time. I suppose it was the subtext in all those sermons that fuzzy thinking and oblique talk was devilish. Christians should talk in propositions, like an freshly-starched epistle. Poetry was for people who didn't know what the #&!! they believed.
Coming full-circle never felt so good. I'm rediscovering poetry and my affection for it. It started, I think, by spending more time in the Hebrew Scriptures. Then, I began bumping into Berry, Cairns, Kooser, Hopkins, et al.
If poetry has seemed alien and useless to you, then check out this link to some excellent contemporary poetry.

4 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

I'm probably not alone, but Song of Solomon always felt poetic to me.

9:15 PM  
Blogger Chris said...

Absolutely. In fact, it IS poetry. Along with Job, the Psalms and many other parts of the Hebrew Bible. In fact, I think the Bible as a whole comes out to be about 1/3 poetry.

9:06 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

And Ecclesiastes, if not poetry, made for at least one good song.

7:10 PM  
Blogger Chris said...

Oh yes, how could I forget Ecclesiastes! And the Byrds!

10:51 PM  

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