The first thing I ever read by George MacDonald was his most dreamy children’s novel, At the Back of the North Wind, a book which compelled me as much as it mystified me. I remember vividly the moment that I encountered the poem, sometimes entitled “No End of No-Story”, which appears in the novel – aContinue reading “Run Run Ever (After George MacDonald’s “No End of No-Story”)”
Category Archives: Devotional
Sowing (After George MacDonald’s “Better Things”)
Like many Victorian poets, George MacDonald often wrote poems which were far longer than they needed to be and far more flowery than readers today are comfortable with. But when he succeeded with a poem, he really succeeded, at his best when his form allowed for a simplicity and crispness of language and imagery thatContinue reading “Sowing (After George MacDonald’s “Better Things”)”
Nature Boy
They say he wandered very far And left his home behind; They say he gave up kings for fools And land for tides and sea. They say he wandered ‘til he found A tree to make his throne And searched for friends who would betray And lost ones who would run. They sayContinue reading “Nature Boy”
Fragments of a Prayer (After George MacDonald’s “A Broken Prayer”)
I’ve been slipping behind a bit in my poetry project this month. There’s been a lot going on in my life! But it’s time to start catching up. So today I’m looking at one of George MacDonald’s most complex but also compelling poems, “A Broken Prayer”, a poem written in a hybrid of free andContinue reading “Fragments of a Prayer (After George MacDonald’s “A Broken Prayer”)”
The Fledgling (After George MacDonald’s “Diary of an Old Soul”)
One of the most powerful and touching works that George MacDonald wrote, although also one of his least known, is his sequence of poems entitled, a little awkwardly, “A Book of Strife in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul”. The book includes a poem for each day of the year, each oneContinue reading “The Fledgling (After George MacDonald’s “Diary of an Old Soul”)”
The Crowd Is Unbelief
For up they looked and on they walked, straight to Horizons which the world, too blind to see, All mocked and doubted; yet the endless view Of cities yet to come, lives yet to be Still drove them on, amidst the scornful crowd. The leap of faith, the movement and the dance, The downwards stabContinue reading “The Crowd Is Unbelief”
Christina Rossetti: Love Lies Bleeding
Sadly, my month of working with Christina Rossetti’s poetry must come to an end. To finish up the month, here is an essay I have written on her poetry. It is an early draft of a chapter towards a larger book I am writing about the power of writing in the Christian life; this meansContinue reading “Christina Rossetti: Love Lies Bleeding”
Joy in the Planting
“What profit,” I asked, “does there lie in this soil? My labour will bear its fruit on a day Far off in the future, when I’m gone away And a stranger will reap from my toil.” “What gain,” I then asked, “in this mortal coil, This limitless cycle of birth and decay, This nothing-new-under-the-sun, andContinue reading “Joy in the Planting”
Alive (After Christina Rossetti’s “Sleeping At Last”)
One of the last poems that Christina Rossetti wrote (possibly her last; her brother, William Michael, is unclear about this) was the touchingly simple “Sleeping At Last”. Taking the subject of death, which has fascinated many poets from Donne to Dickinson, Rossetti presents death as sleep, a peaceful rest ending pain and beyond which liesContinue reading “Alive (After Christina Rossetti’s “Sleeping At Last”)”
“For mercies countless as the sands…”
John Newton, the famous hymn writer and pastor, certainly knew how to reflect on his life. Never forgetting his former life as a slave trader, womaniser and general no-good, he always approached life with a grateful heart, forever marvelling at the “amazing grace” he had known in his later life. One birthday, towards the endContinue reading ““For mercies countless as the sands…””
The Consolations of Writing 