Poetry, Prayer and the Life of the Spirit:
“Soul in Paraphrase, Heart in Pilgrimage”
What do the practices of poetry and prayer and spiritual formation have in common? They are rooted in the same ground: the essentially contemplative recognition of silence, listening, waiting, and a lived experience and disciplined expression of the mystery of love.
This class explores themes (common to both poetry and prayer) of awe and gratitude, joy and sorrow, forgiveness and hope, consolation and desolation. We will read and ponder poems by 20th century poets Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Denise Levertov, R.S. Thomas, Jessica Powers and Anne Porter as well as works by George Herbert (from whose poem Prayer the course takes its title) Gerard Manley Hopkins, John Donne and—in translation—Dante, Rilke, and Rumi.