“You must believe: a poem is a holy thing — a good poem, that is.”
Theodore Roethke (1908–1963) American poet
Poetry and Craft (1965)
“You must believe: a poem is a holy thing — a good poem, that is.”
Theodore Roethke (1908–1963) American poet
Poetry and Craft (1965)
Aurelius Augustinus (354–430) early Christian theologian and philosopher
Source: On the Mystical Body of Christ, p.428
Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972) Polish-American Conservative Judaism Rabbi
Source: Who Is Man? (1965), Ch. 5<!-- The sense of the ineffable, p. 89 -->
William Blake (1757–1827) English Romantic poet and artist
Introduction, st. 1
1790s, Songs of Experience (1794)
Maria Weston Chapman (1806–1885) American abolitionist
From [Boston Female Anti-slavery Society, Annual Report of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, https://books.google.com/books?id=W5I5AQAAMAAJ, 1836, The Society, 30], as quoted in [Dell, Diana, Memorable Quotations: American Women Writers of the Past, https://books.google.com/books?id=eM3IWooc_zIC, December 2000, iUniverse, 978-0-595-16230-7, 73]
Loreena McKennitt (1957) Canadian musician and composer
Notes from McKennitt's journals in the CD booklet for The Mask and Mirror '
Context: May, 1993 - Stratford... have been reading through the poetry of 15th century Spain, and I find myself drawn to one by the mystic writer and visionary St. John of the Cross; the untitled work is an exquisite, richly metaphoric love poem between himself and his god. It could pass as a love poem between any two at any time... His approach seems more akin to early Islamic or Judaic works in its more direct route to communication to his god... I have gone over three different translations of the poem, and am struck by how much a translation can alter our interpretation. I am reminded that most holy scriptures come to us in translation, resulting in a diversity of views.
James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) Scottish physicist
Part III Poems, To the Air of "Lörelei." (January, 1858)
The Life of James Clerk Maxwell (1882)
“The towers shine in a larger blue, and the portals bloom with a mystic light. Silence was ordered and mute in terror fell the world. From on high he begins. His holy words have weight heavy and immutable and the Fates follow his voice.”
Radiant majore sereno
culmina et arcano florentes lumine postes.
postquam jussa quies siluitque exterritus orbis,
incipit ex alto: grave et inmutabile sanctis
pondus adest verbis, et vocem fata sequuntur.
Source: Thebaid, Book I, Line 209
John Chrysostom (349–407) important Early Church Father
Homilies on the Statues http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf109/Page_472.html, Homily XX