The Poems of Rowan Williams

Author: Rowan Williams
Publisher: Carcanet
ISBN: 1847775381
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 111

Book Description
I dislike the idea of being a religious poet. I would prefer to be a poet for whom religious things mattered intensely. In the poems collected in this book, Rowan Williams writes of many things. He visits the Holy Land, commemorates the deaths of parents and close friends, explores elements of ancient Celtic culture; poems are inspired by works of art, landscapes rural and urban, and historical figures from Tolstoy to Simone Weil. What connects poem to poem is the poet's vividly sensual language, his formal mastery, and how he can address, specifically and particularly, what matters most intensely. Earth is a hard text to read', writes Welsh poet Waldo Williams in a poem translated here. For Rowan Williams, this very reading is the task of the poet.

The Poems of Rowan Williams

Author: Williams
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802826855
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 116

Book Description
Long admired as a compassionate churchman and as a scholar of the highest order, Rowan Williams, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, is also a poet of resounding voice and feeling whose verse, called "visionary yet earth-rooted," displays a genius for embodying abstract ideas in vivid, sensual images. "The Poems of Rowan Williams" gathers together the best pieces from the Archbishop's two previous collections, "After Silent Centuries" (1994) and "Remembering Jerusalem" (2001), together with several new works. These powerful, moving meditations are for everyone, religious and nonreligious alike. Archbishop Williams speaks from the crucible of faith, yet his words emerge from the universal experience of life. As Williams himself says: "I dislike the idea of being a religious poet. I would prefer to be a poet for whom religious things mattered intensely." The subject matter of these sixty-five poems ranges broadly -- the natural world, works of art, recollections of a visit to the Holy Land at Easter, thoughts arising from fragments of the ancient Celtic world, a modern Welsh scene, a group of thin girls awaiting at a bus stop. A particularly poignant group of poems captures Williams's reflections on death, arising first from his feelings of grief at the loss of loved ones (including his father and mother) and widening to include the last days of Tolstoy, Nietzsche in his madness, Rilke, Simone Weil, and Thomas Merton. There are also some free translations -- three well-known poems by Rilke and nine works by Welsh poets -- in which Williams succeeds marvelously in conveying the imagery and energy of the originals. Williams's pen is lean and lyrical. His vision is penetrating andwise. More, his treatment of his subjects never fails to render them in suggestive, very often redemptive, ways. Readers from all walks of life with come to cherish this lovely collection of verse.

The Book of Taliesin

Author: Rowan Williams
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141396946
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
The great work of Welsh literature, translated in full for the first time in over 100 years by two of its country's foremost poets Tennyson portrayed him, and wrote at least one poem under his name. Robert Graves was fascinated by what he saw as his work's connection to a lost world of deeply buried folkloric memory. He is a shapeshifter; a seer; a chronicler of battles fought, by sword and with magic, between the ancient kingdoms of the British Isles; a bridge between old Welsh mythologies and the new Christian theology; a 6th-century Brythonic bard; and a legendary collective project spanning the centuries up to The Book of Taliesin's compilation in 14th-century North Wales. He is, above all, no single 'he'. The figure of Taliesin is a mystery. But of the variety and quality of the poems written under his sign, of their power as exemplars of the force of ecstatic poetic imagination, and of the fascinating window they offer us onto a strange and visionary world, there can be no question. In the first volume to gather all of the poems from The Book of Taliesin since 1915, Gwyneth Lewis and Rowan Williams's accessible translation makes these outrageous, arrogant, stumbling and joyful poems available to a new generation of readers.

Headwaters

Author: Rowan Williams
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 76

Book Description
This is Rowan Williams' third collection of poems, poems of subtlety and complexity - and passion. They range widely in subject, place and mood. The poet visits a martyrs' memorial and a prison in Uganda. He meditates on the story of St Serafim of Sarov at the rock where 'at night Serafim knelt on the same rock, three long years'. He hears Bach's St Matthew Passion and is 'exhausted with new grief, old treacheries, the view without prospect'. He watches the 'black eyes fixed half-open' of Piero's Jesus and waits, 'paralysed as if in dreams, for his spring'. He celebrates - and translates the work of - the contemporary Russian poet, Inna Lisnianskaya. In several poems he reflects on the rivers of life, from their headwaters to the sea, and on landscapes and townscapes.

Sounding the Seasons

Author: Malcolm Guite
Publisher: Canterbury Press
ISBN: 1848255152
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 102

Book Description
Poetry has always been a central element of Christian spirituality and is increasingly used in worship, in pastoral services and guided meditation. Here, Cambridge poet, priest and singer-songwriter Malcolm Guite transforms 70 lectionary readings into inspiring poems for use in regular worship, seasonal services, meditative reading or on retreat.

Where God Happens

Author: Rowan Williams
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1590303903
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
The place "where God happens," according to Rowan Williams's striking new reading of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, is between each other. It's a truth that we of the twenty-first century most urgently need to learn in order to heal the experience of alienation that has become endemic to our age, and these odd and appealing ancient figures, surprisingly, hold keys to this healing. The fourth-century Christian hermits of Egypt, Syria, and Palestine understood the truth of Christian community profoundly, and their lives demonstrate it vividly—even though they often lived in solitude and isolation. The author breaks through our preconceived ideas of the Desert Fathers to reveal them in a new light: as true and worthy role models—even for us in our modern lives—who have much to teach us about dealing with the anxieties, uncertainties, and sense of isolation that have become hallmarks of modern life. They especially embody valuable insights about community, about how to live together in an intimate and meaningful way. Williams makes these radical figures, who clearly have a special place in his heart, come to life in a new way for everyone. The book includes an appendix of selections from the teachings of the Desert Fathers.

Dostoevsky

Author: Rowan Williams
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1847064256
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
Rowan Williams explores the intricacies of speech, fiction, metaphor, and iconography in the works of one of literature's most complex and most misunderstood, authors. Williams' investigation focuses on the four major novels of Dostoevsky's maturity (Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Devils, and The Brothers Karamazov). He argues that understanding Dostoevsky's style and goals as a writer of fiction is inseparable from understanding his religious commitments. Any reader who enters the rich and insightful world of Williams' Dostoevsky will emerge a more thoughtful and appreciative reader for it.

A Collection of Poems

Author: Cheryl Williams
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing
ISBN: 1480956074
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 69

Book Description
A Collection of Poems A Journey Through Life By: Cheryl Williams A Collection of Poems takes us through the power of the human mind, good or bad, and its impact on one’s direction and journey through life. With the help of music, writing, and positive thinking, author Cheryl Williams found hope and purpose in life. Life isn’t fair. It is unpredictable, bad things happen to good people, and we never know what tomorrow holds. Cheryl wants her readers to realize that even when faced with insurmountable, hopeless situations, even when life seems dark and uncertain, we should never let go of hope and appreciate the beauty and blessings that life has to offer, making the most of every day, loving, living, laughing, and learning. Seasons change, and there is always a rainbow after the storms of life.

The Music of Time

Author: John Burnside
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691218862
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 528

Book Description
"First published in a slight different form in Great Britain in 2019 by Profile Books Ltd."--Title page verso.

Grace and Necessity

Author: Rowan Williams
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781472966001
Category : Christianity and the arts
Languages : en
Pages : 175

Book Description
"In this original book Rowan Williams sketches out a new understanding of how human beings open themselves to transcendence. Drawing on the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain, the Welsh poet and painter David Jones, and the American novelist Mary Flannery O`Connor, Rowan Williams fulfils his ambition for Christianity to engage with contemporary culture, and that a man who holds highest office in the Church has the time and intellectual energy to write such original theology is encouraging for us all. 'Unabashedly erudite in tone, this book may appeal to scholars and readers interested in grappling with a debate that has probably been engaged as long as there have been artists and theologians.' Publishers Weekly 'Discusses important issues in a profound and original way.' Church of England Newspaper."--Bloomsbury Publishing.