Poets have always been the medium through which a culture talks of, and to, its gods. Now, in this learned but lively commentary, Peggy Rosenthal shows us the astonishing range of poetic encounters with Jesus. With a special emphasis on twentieth-century poetry, Rosenthal draws from an unprecedented range of world poetry--from Africa, the Arab world, and the Far East to Latin America and the West--to give readers an understanding of how different times and different cultures have affected the way poets refigure Jesus and of how poets' fascination with the man from Nazareth transcends all barriers. She also demonstrates that, despite the twentieth century's self-definition as a secular and post-Christian epoch, it has produced poetry about Jesus of truly surprising quality and variety. Impeccably researched and extremely accessible, The Poets Jesus will strongly appeal to scholars of poetry and religion as well as for all general readers of poetry.
Industry Reviews
"Explores how different cultural contexts have influenced the way poets represent Jesus....There is a fascinating chapter on Arabic poetry, T.S. Eliot, cruelty, and waste and another on Samuel Beckett leading back to W.H. Auden....Will interest scholars of poetry and religion as well as general readers of poetry."--Library Journal
"The Poets' Jesus is an absorbing book, a passionate and timely survey of the way modern poets have 'configured' the protagonist of the Christian story. With seemingly effortless grace, Peggy Rosenthal covers an astonishing amount of poetic territory--both spiritual and geographical. From European and American poets to the less well-known writers of Africa and the Middle East, from a Jesus who is depicted as frail or absent to a resurgent Jesus who in
recent decades is mysteriously present, Rosenthal is there to enlarge the range and depth of our understanding. With her profound sensitivity for things spiritual and literary, Rosenthal is the perfect guide
for the pilgrim in search of the Word within the poet's words." --Gregory Wolfe, Editor, Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion
"Peggy Rosenthal's easygoing and often droll voice comes through on every page, as she guides her reader on a world tour of poetry centered on Jesus. Learned and accessible (never abstruse), The Poets' Jesus is respectful of scholarship without being burdened by its agendas or jargon. Rosenthal's thumbnail sketches of poets' lives, historical events, and literary movements demonstrate her truly global range, but she never loses her focus on the figure
of Jesus, re-embodied in verse by a stunning variety of poets. A superb companion to the Oxford anthology, Divine Inspiration: The Life of Jesus in World Poetry (ed. Robert Atwan, George Dardess, and Peggy
Rosenthal), The Poets' Jesus shares its laudable aim of showing how poets far afield express diverse versions of Jesus and Christ." --Suzanne Keen, Washington and Lee University
"[The Poets' Jesus] is a short, reader-friendly account of how poets have rendered Jesus, primarily from the 19th century to the present. This book is also, in passing, a swift overview of the last two centuries of Christian theology and Western culture." --Peter Steinfels, The New York Times
"An important new book.... Her work is nothing short of a tour de force....It is Rosenthal's global reach that is most fascinating and compelling....No one with an interest in Jesus, a poet himself in many ways, should overlook this finely balanced account." --The Mobile Register
"Explores how different cultural contexts have influenced the way poets represent Jesus....There is a fascinating chapter on Arabic poetry, T.S. Eliot, cruelty, and waste and another on Samuel Beckett leading back to W.H. Auden....Will interest scholars of poetry and religion as well as general readers of poetry."--Library Journal
"The Poets' Jesus is an absorbing book, a passionate and timely survey of the way modern poets have 'configured' the protagonist of the Christian story. With seemingly effortless grace, Peggy Rosenthal covers an astonishing amount of poetic territory--both spiritual and geographical. From European and American poets to the less well-known writers of Africa and the Middle East, from a Jesus who is depicted as frail or absent to a resurgent Jesus who in
recent decades is mysteriously present, Rosenthal is there to enlarge the range and depth of our understanding. With her profound sensitivity for things spiritual and literary, Rosenthal is the perfect guide
for the pilgrim in search of the Word within the poet's words." --Gregory Wolfe, Editor, Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion
"Peggy Rosenthal's easygoing and often droll voice comes through on every page, as she guides her reader on a world tour of poetry centered on Jesus. Learned and accessible (never abstruse), The Poets' Jesus is respectful of scholarship without being burdened by its agendas or jargon. Rosenthal's thumbnail sketches of poets' lives, historical events, and literary movements demonstrate her truly global range, but she never loses her focus on the figure
of Jesus, re-embodied in verse by a stunning variety of poets. A superb companion to the Oxford anthology, Divine Inspiration: The Life of Jesus in World Poetry (ed. Robert Atwan, George Dardess, and Peggy
Rosenthal), The Poets' Jesus shares its laudable aim of showing how poets far afield express diverse versions of Jesus and Christ." --Suzanne Keen, Washington and Lee University
"[The Poets' Jesus] is a short, reader-friendly account of how poets have rendered Jesus, primarily from the 19th century to the present. This book is also, in passing, a swift overview of the last two centuries of Christian theology and Western culture." --Peter Steinfels, The New York Times
"An important new book.... Her work is nothing short of a tour de force....It is Rosenthal's global reach that is most fascinating and compelling....No one with an interest in Jesus, a poet himself in many ways, should overlook this finely balanced account." --The Mobile Register
"Rosenthal's range is ambitious.... [Her] arguments are convincing, her examples compelling and her knowledge of contemporary poets impressive. Her clear prose style and her avoidance of the distancing parlance of current literary theory make this a valuable study not only for the scholar of literature but for the general reader who would like to see the old familiars in a fresh context and, in the process, be introduced to new and provocative images of
Jesus."--Christian Century
"An impressive tour de force.... [Rosenthal's] personal perspective makes this book all the more enjoyable.... The quality of surprise and rapid association that characterizes the writing of chapter one is at work in the entire book."--Cross Currents
"As I read the book, I rejoiced, I bounced in my steps, I flung out hosannas.... With a keen sense of each poet's intellectual and theological context, Rosenthal not only probes the religious imagination but also studies--from obviously fresh sources--the history of theology and the history of belief.... The Poets' Jesus is brilliant in taking two limited areas--poetry and the figure of Jesus--and turning their intersection into a grand survey of
intellectual history and the history of belief.... The subtitle is apt; for reading, for thinking, even for meditating, The Poets' Jesus is a millennial book."--Joseph J. Feeney, America
"[An] engaging and insightful study...the scope of [Rosenthal's] study is global.... In addition to its remarkable breadth and its graceful prose, two other features of The Poets' Jesus will commend it to readers. The endnotes provide additional, helpful information about the poets discussed, many of whom will be unfamiliar to a general audience. Also, reproductions of artwork throughout the book reflect its global scope and complement the text in
interesting ways. Readers of Religion and Literature will not want to miss The Poets' Jesus, a worthy addition, indeed, to anyone's library."--Religion and Literature
"[The Poets' Jesus] engagingly proceeds more like a Cook's tour than an academic inquiry. Rosenthal has many of the qualities that one wants in a tour guide: she is... well informed...; she is articulate; and she loves her subject.... [In] the figure of Jesus in mid and late twentieth-century world poetry...especially, she is an engaging, stimulating guide."--Christianity and Literature
