Dive headfirst into the vast and beautiful world of Catholic poetry!
Dive headfirst into the vast and beautiful world of Catholic poetry!
Award-winning poet Sally Read makes poetry easy and appealing to new and experienced readers with her insightful commentaries on 100 of the greatest Catholic poems.
100 Great Catholic Poems
Edited and with Commentary by Sally Read
Word on Fire | November 13, 2023
Hardcover | 488 Pages | 6" x 9"
Here's what you'll find in this book to make poetry more accessible and enjoyable:
Here's what you'll find in this book to make poetry more accessible and enjoyable:
- An entry into the vast beautiful world of poetry–the “language of Catholicism”.
- A carefully selected, unparalleled collection of Catholic poems by renowned poet and author Sally Read spanning 20 countries and 20 centuries!
- Explanatory and insightful commentaries which break down the symbolism, historic context, and deeper meaning of every single poem, helping readers get the absolute most out of each stanza and verse.
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A detailed glossary of poetic terms to introduce new readers to the vocabulary of poetry.
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Featured poems by iconic poets, including: Dante, Shakespeare, Saint John of the Cross, Oscar Wilde, and many more!
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Poetry made easy and appealing to new and experienced readers
Poetry is the language of Catholicism. From the songs of Scripture to the hymns of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Church has always used metaphor and image, meter and rhyme, and the music of language to illuminate and express the faith.
Yet, when it comes to Catholic poetry itself, the song too often remains unsung. Many devout believers recoil from poetry, even when it is deeply Catholic. Many poetry lovers overlook Catholic poetry, even when it is truly great. And passionate readers are left with few resources from which to draw inspiration—even as the number of great Catholic poems continues to grow.
This groundbreaking collection is designed to change that. Whether Catholic or non-Catholic, a poetry skeptic or a poetry lover, readers will glean from these pages a deepened appreciation of the history of poetry, the life of the Church spanning twenty countries and twenty centuries, and the powerful ways in which each strengthens the other.
About the Editor
Sally Read is an award-winning poet whose first collection since her conversion from atheism to Catholicism, Dawn of this Hunger, was the fruit of her ten-year tenure as poet in residence at the Hermitage of the Three Holy Hierarchs. Sally’s poetry has been recorded for the UK’s Poetry Archive, and her writing, in both poetry and prose, has appeared in numerous publications and anthologies, including The Times Literary Supplement, The Picador Book of Love Poems, and Forward’s Poems of the Decade. Her poetry has also been featured on BBC Radio, and episodes of her Radio Maria England show, “Poetry for the Season,” are available on Spotify.
Since her conversion, Sally has written lyrics for the sacred music of Paul Flynn, and their songs have been performed by The Palestrina and Trinity College Chapel Choirs in Dublin. Sally has also written two books of nonfiction, Night’s Bright Darkness and Annunciation: A Call to Faith in a Broken World, the latter of which was the subject of a short film by Norman Servais for EWTN Great Britain. Sally’s work has been translated in five languages. Her literary memoir, The Mary Pages, is forthcoming from Word on Fire.
“I was twenty-five years old when I had my first encounter with a poem in a book. I was working as a nurse in London, and while tending to the variously tested and battered hearts on a hospital ward, my own had been broken. . . . But sitting in my flat one evening I read the line: ‘It is late last night the dog was speaking of you.’ [the first line of ‘Donal Og’ (Young Donald) by Lady Augusta Gregory]. . . . It spoke to my heart. I was soothed, but electrified. The poem would travel with me for a long time. . . . Well, that same bewildered yet convinced sensation would come upon me during my conversion to the Catholic faith.”
— SALLY READ
from the Introduction
What People are Saying
“The current Catholic literary revival takes a huge leap forward with this essential new book. 100 Great Catholic Poems not only lives up to its ambitious title but exceeds it. Editor Sally Read presents an arresting cross section of the best poems from antiquity to the modern age; then she adds a useful and engaging note for each selection. This anthology helps restore a lost legacy to the Church. Whether you are a student, a teacher, or a cardinal, you will want this book on your shelf.”
— Dana Gioia, former California Poet Laureate and Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts
“What an extraordinary gift Sally Read’s 100 Great Catholic Poems is! Even with poems many of us may already know—the Magnificat, Dante, Shakespeare, Crashaw, Hopkins, and, yes, Wallace Stevens—her commentaries on each of these blessed one hundred are so vivid and insightful that we find ourselves wrapped again and again in an aura of stunning, grace-filled light. And then there are those poems we may never have come across before, shining here like the hidden diamonds they are. What a treasure this book is! Read it. I promise you will indeed be changed by the encounter.”
— Paul Mariani, University Professor of English Emeritus at Boston College
“In this superb anthology, Sally Read has somehow taken the vast sweep of Catholic wisdom and civilization and distilled it as a single volume. With poems spanning the centuries, from Mary’s Magnificat to the stuttering prophetic joy of David Jones and beyond, 100 Great Catholic Poems will make not only a fine initiation into the Catholic literary tradition for many readers but also a portal into the profound vision and mystery of the Church. Read’s helpful commentaries illuminate the poems and draw even the most wary reader into the sacramental imagination.”
— James Matthew Wilson, author of The Strangeness of the Good and Professor of Humanities at the University of St. Thomas
“A truly absorbing anthology! Sally Read brings to the poems selected—an impressive sweep over two millennia—an originality of insight that opens the door for the reader into a new world of vision, refreshing our understanding not only of some of the great classics of the tradition but also of work much less familiar yet no less compelling. For any serious lover of sacred verse, this is a must-have anthology.”
— Fr. Paul Murray, OP, author of Light at the Torn Horizon
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