Flowers of Heaven: 1000 Years of Christian Verse

Compiled by Joseph Pearce This anthology provides some of the finest Christian verse written during the second millennium of Christianity. All of the great ones are here: Hildegard of Bingen, Francis of Assisi, Dante and Chaucer from the High Middle Ages; Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and John Donne from the Reformation; English and American Romantics such as Browning and Whittier; late nineteenth-century mystics like Dickenson and Hopkins, as well the great converts of that period like Newman and Chesterton; and, T. S. Eliot speaking out of and into our own times. A conscious attempt was made to meet both the standards of academia and the tastes and sensibilities of the faithful. The selections are arranged chronologically to serve also as a history of verse. Brief biographical and anecdotal introductions reveal the varied relationships of the poets with each other and with the trials and tribulations of their day. This magnificent collection is essential for all poetry lovers for those who respond to the beauty of the written word penned in the service of spiritual truth. Joseph Pearce is the celebrated author of the literary biographies Tolkien: Man and Myth, The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde, C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church, Literary Converts, Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G. K. Chesterton and Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc.