Poetic revelations : word made flesh made word : the power of the word III

This book explores the much debated relation of language and bodily experience (i.e. the 'flesh'), considering in particular how poetry functions as revelatory discourse and thus relates to the formal horizon of theological inquiry. The central thematic focus is around a 'phenomenology of the flesh' as that which connects us with the world, being the site of perception and feeling, joy and suffering, and of life itself in all its vulnerability. The voices represented in this collection reflect interdisciplinary methods of interpretation and broadly ecumenical sensibilities, focusing attention on such matters as the revelatory nature of language in general and poetic language in particular, the function of poetry in society, the question of Incarnation and its relation to language and the poetic arts, the kenosis of the Word, and human embodiment in relation to the word 'enfleshed' in poetry. Review 'This is one of those rare collections that becomes a true symposium, a dialectic, with voices rooted in thought, scholarship, and the imagination employed at a high level. The intersection of flesh and word has long been at the core of theological and poetic discourse. But here ― in fifteen deeply considered essays by some of our best critics and religious thinkers ― we get a profoundly nuanced, inspiring sequence of interlocking pieces. Taken as a whole, Poetic Revelations delivers what it promises, taking us into what T.S. Eliot once called ‘the heart of light’. That light burns here, and readers will delight in the illuminations.' – Jay Parini, author of Why Poetry Matters as well as six collections of poetry, including most recently New and Collected Poems, 1975-2015. ‘Many poets and religious persons have held that there is another world that can be glimpsed by paying close attention to this one, and this belief is vividly explored by the contributors to this exciting volume. Here we hear of words "ripening in the silence," and see major philosophers such as Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Marion led into conversation about sacred poetry. George Herbert, R. M. Rilke, T. S. Eliot, David Jones, R. S. Thomas. . . all are illuminated by readers who take time to listen well to their words.’ – Kevin Hart, Professor of Christian Studies at the University of Virginia and author, most recently, of Clandestine Encounters: Philosophy in the Narratives of Maurice Blanchot and Counter-Experiences: Reading Jean-Luc Marion. \* \* '... I know of no other book that combines a sensitive balance between theology, poetry, and literature with such consistently creative and critical writing as Poetic Revelations ... This is an outstanding book and we can only look forward to more volumes from the Power of the Word conferences.' – David Jasper in Christianity & Literature About the Author Mark S. Burrows is Professor of Religion and Literature at the University of Applied Sciences in Bochum, Germany. Recent publications include two volumes of German poetry in translation: Rainer Maria Rilke’s Prayers of a Young Poet (2013) and the German-Iranian poet SAID’s 99 Psalms (2013); a forthcoming volume of his recent poems, The Chance of Home, will be published in 2016. Jean Ward is Professor of English Literature at the Institute of English and American Studies, Gdańsk University, Poland. Her publications include Christian Poetry in the Post-Christian Day: Geoffrey Hill, R. S. Thomas, Elizabeth Jennings (2009) and a translation of Tadeusz Sławek's monograph, Henry David Thoreau – Grasping the Community of the World (2014). Małgorzata Grzegorzewska is Professor of English Literature at the Institute of English Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland. Her most recent book is entitled George Herbert and Post-Phenomenology: A Gift for Our Times (2016). Cover Title Copyright Contents Notes on contributors Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: poetry, Incarnation and ‘the wonder of unexpected supply’ PART I Word made Word: poetry and the re-making of the world 1 Poetry human and divine 2 ‘The Word spoke in our words that we might speak in his’: Augustine, the Psalms and the poetry of the incarnate Word 3 The Word of God woven into the poetic word: the idea of Logos in the poetry of George Herbert and Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski 4 ‘Eternity shut in a span’: the Word being born and giving birth in the poetry of Richard Crashaw 5 Elizabeth Jennings and the mysticism of words PART II Flesh made Word: poetry as the shaping of the self 6 Revelation and inspiration among theologians and poets 7 Word made flesh made word: on the poetic force of Macbeth 8 ‘Like a word still ripening in the silences’: Rainer Maria Rilke and the transformations of poetry 9 The logos of the guess 10 Still-born words and still life worlds in the poetry of T. S. Eliot PART III Word made flesh: the poem as body enclosed in language 11 Incarnations in the ear: on poetry and presence 12 T. S. Eliot on metaphysical poetry and the case of Prufrock 13 ‘The poem’s muscle, blood and lymph’: David Constantine’s poetic bodies 14 Divine eloquence: R. S. Thomas and the matter of Logos 15 Incarnation and the feminine in David Jones’s In Parenthesis Epilogue: poetry as vehicle of divine presence Index of scriptural references Index of persons Subject index