Tag Archives: faith

Expectancy (After Christina Rossetti’s “The Thread of Life”)

Another one of my favourite Christina Rossetti poems is one of her least known – a cycle of three sonnets entitled, “The Thread of Life”. You can read the original here. In response to her poem, I have attempted my own set of three sonnets, working with some of Rossetti’s original theme. You might alsoContinue reading “Expectancy (After Christina Rossetti’s “The Thread of Life”)”

The Road (After Christina Rossetti’s “Uphill”)

One of my favourite poems by Christina Rossetti is the lovely and comfortingly simple “Uphill”. The poem is written as a dialogue between two people and has always expressed to me both the hardship of the Christian walk and the certainty of the hope before us. I have tried to reflect these things in writingContinue reading “The Road (After Christina Rossetti’s “Uphill”)”

To trust requires a qualitative leap (Kierkegaard Sonnet #3)

To trust requires a qualitative leap  And sin, I’m told, involves more of the same: The gap, whichever way you turn, is deep And, leaping, you can’t go back where you came. So, then, when our ontology is faint And all our guesses lead us back to here – This point of anxious thinking, mind’sContinue reading “To trust requires a qualitative leap (Kierkegaard Sonnet #3)”

William Cowper – The Waiting Soul

To finish off my month of looking at William Cowper, here is an essay that I have written on his life and work – an attempt to draw together the threads of life that was simultaneously dark and beautiful. I hope you find it a helpful read. William Cowper – The Waiting Soul

Solitude and Grace (After William Cowper’s “The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk”)

One of William Cowper’s more famous poems, “The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk” takes on the perspective of the real-life inspiration for Robinson Crusoe, a buccaneer cast away on an island in the South Pacific for four years. Though much less famous than Defoe’s novel, Cowper’s poem brought English the saying, “The monarch of all I survey”.Continue reading “Solitude and Grace (After William Cowper’s “The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk”)”

Author of Life (Thursday in Easter Week)

“It’s true: the Author of life lay dead,             Lay three days inside death’s tomb, The Righteous and the Holy One             Made Himself an offering to Ignorant, unrighteous men             Who knew not what they did.   It’s true, for we are witnesses;             We saw Him breathe and saw Him die And sawContinue reading “Author of Life (Thursday in Easter Week)”