Chapters into Verse: A Selection of Poetry in English Inspired by the Bible from Genesis through Revelation

Front Cover
Robert Atwan, Laurance Wieder
Oxford University Press, 2000 M09 28 - 512 pages
Drawing a unique map of the history of English poetry, Chapters Into Verse surveys and defines the literary legacy of the Scriptures from the fourteenth century to the present. Arranged in scriptural order from Genesis to Revelation, the book presents each poem alongside 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. 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 also assembles a mixed congregation of modern and contemporary poets, such as Dylan Thomas, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Countee Cullen, e.e. cummings, William Butler Yeats, Laura (Riding) Jackson, A.D. Hope, Denise Levertov, and Philip Levine. Of enduring interest to readers of both scripture and literature, this anthology illuminates key passages of the Old and New Testament. 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 profoundly and imaginatively.
 

Contents

I
3
III
4
V
5
VII
6
VIII
7
IX
8
X
9
XI
10
CXCIII
228
CXCIV
229
CXCV
230
CXCVI
231
CXCVII
233
CXCVIII
235
CXCIX
239
CCI
240

XIII
11
XV
12
XVI
14
XVII
15
XVIII
16
XIX
17
XXI
18
XXII
20
XXIV
21
XXVI
23
XXVIII
24
XXIX
25
XXX
27
XXXI
28
XXXIII
29
XXXV
30
XXXVI
31
XXXVII
33
XXXVIII
34
XXXIX
35
XL
38
XLII
39
XLIV
40
XLV
41
XLVI
43
XLVII
44
XLIX
45
L
47
LI
48
LII
51
LIV
52
LV
54
LVII
56
LVIII
57
LX
60
LXI
61
LXII
64
LXIII
65
LXIV
66
LXVI
67
LXVII
68
LXVIII
69
LXIX
70
LXX
71
LXXI
74
LXXII
78
LXXIII
79
LXXIV
80
LXXV
81
LXXVII
83
LXXVIII
84
LXXIX
85
LXXX
87
LXXXI
88
LXXXII
89
LXXXIII
91
LXXXIV
95
LXXXV
96
LXXXVI
97
LXXXVII
98
LXXXVIII
99
LXXXIX
101
XC
103
XCII
104
XCIII
105
XCIV
106
XCV
108
XCVII
109
XCVIII
110
XCIX
112
C
113
CII
114
CIII
117
CIV
118
CV
119
CVI
120
CVII
121
CVIII
124
CIX
125
CX
126
CXI
127
CXII
129
CXIII
130
CXV
131
CXVI
132
CXVII
134
CXVIII
135
CXIX
137
CXX
139
CXXI
140
CXXII
142
CXXIII
143
CXXIV
144
CXXV
145
CXXVI
146
CXXVII
147
CXXVIII
148
CXXIX
149
CXXX
150
CXXXI
151
CXXXII
152
CXXXIII
154
CXXXIV
155
CXXXVI
156
CXXXVII
157
CXXXVIII
158
CXXXIX
160
CXL
161
CXLI
162
CXLII
163
CXLIII
165
CXLIV
168
CXLV
171
CXLVII
172
CXLVIII
173
CL
174
CLI
176
CLII
180
CLIII
181
CLIV
183
CLV
184
CLVII
185
CLVIII
186
CLIX
187
CLXI
188
CLXII
189
CLXIV
191
CLXV
193
CLXVI
194
CLXVII
195
CLXVIII
196
CLXX
197
CLXXI
198
CLXXII
199
CLXXIII
200
CLXXIV
201
CLXXV
202
CLXXVI
203
CLXXVII
204
CLXXVIII
206
CLXXIX
207
CLXXX
208
CLXXXI
209
CLXXXII
211
CLXXXIII
213
CLXXXIV
218
CLXXXV
219
CLXXXVII
220
CLXXXVIII
221
CLXXXIX
222
CXC
223
CXCI
224
CXCII
225
CCIII
241
CCIV
242
CCV
243
CCVI
244
CCVII
245
CCIX
246
CCX
247
CCXII
248
CCXIII
249
CCXV
251
CCXVI
252
CCXVIII
253
CCXIX
255
CCXXII
256
CCXXIV
258
CCXXV
259
CCXXVI
260
CCXXVII
261
CCXXIX
262
CCXXX
264
CCXXXII
265
CCXXXIII
266
CCXXXIV
269
CCXXXV
270
CCXXXVI
271
CCXXXVII
272
CCXXXVIII
273
CCXL
276
CCXLI
277
CCXLII
278
CCXLIII
279
CCXLIV
283
CCXLV
284
CCXLVI
286
CCXLVII
288
CCXLVIII
289
CCXLIX
291
CCL
293
CCLI
295
CCLII
297
CCLIII
298
CCLIV
299
CCLV
300
CCLVI
301
CCLVIII
302
CCLIX
303
CCLX
307
CCLXI
308
CCLXII
309
CCLXIV
310
CCLXV
311
CCLXVI
312
CCLXVII
313
CCLXVIII
315
CCLXIX
316
CCLXX
317
CCLXXI
319
CCLXXIII
321
CCLXXIV
322
CCLXXVI
323
CCLXXVII
325
CCLXXVIII
326
CCLXXIX
329
CCLXXX
330
CCLXXXII
331
CCLXXXIII
332
CCLXXXIV
334
CCLXXXV
335
CCLXXXVI
343
CCLXXXVII
344
CCLXXXIX
345
CCXC
348
CCXCI
349
CCXCIII
350
CCXCIV
351
CCXCV
352
CCXCVI
353
CCXCVII
354
CCXCVIII
355
CCXCIX
356
CCC
357
CCCII
359
CCCIV
360
CCCV
363
CCCVI
364
CCCVII
369
CCCIX
370
CCCXI
371
CCCXII
372
CCCXIV
373
CCCXV
374
CCCXVI
375
CCCXVII
377
CCCXVIII
380
CCCXIX
381
CCCXX
382
CCCXXI
383
CCCXXIII
386
CCCXXIV
387
CCCXXV
388
CCCXXVI
389
CCCXXVII
390
CCCXXVIII
391
CCCXXX
393
CCCXXXI
396
CCCXXXIII
397
CCCXXXV
398
CCCXXXVI
399
CCCXXXVIII
400
CCCXXXIX
402
CCCXL
403
CCCXLI
404
CCCXLII
405
CCCXLIII
407
CCCXLIV
409
CCCXLV
411
CCCXLVI
412
CCCXLVII
413
CCCXLVIII
414
CCCXLIX
415
CCCL
416
CCCLI
417
CCCLIII
419
CCCLIV
420
CCCLVI
421
CCCLVIII
422
CCCLIX
424
CCCLXI
427
CCCLXII
428
CCCLXIII
429
CCCLXIV
430
CCCLXV
431
CCCLXVI
433
CCCLXVII
434
CCCLXVIII
435
CCCLXIX
436
CCCLXX
437
CCCLXXI
440
CCCLXXII
441
CCCLXXIII
444
CCCLXXIV
445
CCCLXXV
448
CCCLXXVII
450
CCCLXXVIII
452
CCCLXXIX
455
CCCLXXX
456
CCCLXXXI
458
CCCLXXXII
460
CCCLXXXIII
463
CCCLXXXIV
469
CCCLXXXV
477
CCCLXXXVI
481
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Page 17 - And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Page 16 - And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them : and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
Page 9 - And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

About the author (2000)

Robert Atwan is founder and series editor of The Best American Essays and co-editor of Divine Inspiration (OUP 1998) Laurance Wieder is a poet and the editor of The Poets' Book of Psalms (OUP 1999).

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