Poetry Host: Elizabeth Barrette on Sacred Poetry

[ysabetwordsmith]

My name is Elizabeth Barrette. This week I'm hosting discussions of sacred poetry.

The world is home to countless religions and spiritual paths. They all contain liturgy and other cultural material, whether spoken and/or written. Much of this is poetry. Some poetic forms are closely associated with a given culture and often appear in its religious poetry, such as the many Buddhist haiku or Islamic ghazals.

Sacred poetry can do many different things. It can celebrate a deity or other spiritual figure. It can muse on numinous experiences or ideas. It can talk about belonging to a religion. It can discuss enlightenment or other sacred goals. It can be part of a ritual. It can even challenge ideas about a given religion or the concept of divinity altogether.

I'll be sharing some classic poems from various world religions, along with some of my own poetry with a similar flavor. Please feel free to chime in with recommendations of sacred poetry or poets that you enjoy. It doesn't have to be from your own religion, or any of the ones I happen to feature -- just stuff that inspires your soul.

Comments

[alee_grrl]

I look forward to your posts on this fascinating subject. :)

[bookblather]

I think my favorite religious poet is Rumi. He's just so... he says things so briefly and so purely. It really speaks to me.

I also really love the Tao Te Ching, if you count that as poetry (I do).

I look forward to seeing what you have to share!

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Rumi is my example for Sufi poetry, coming up later this week.

[zirconium]

Nice timing. I was reading Merwin's Thanks right at bedtime last night.

Mary Oliver is the de facto poet laureate of many Unitarian Universalists, but the poem I turned to most often during my preaching days was Marge Piercy's The Art of Blessing the Day.

Wow!

[ysabetwordsmith]

Those are beautiful. I'll have to remember "The Art of Blessing the Day," it's a good piece for liturgical use.