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- Title
A Form of Belief: The Prayer Lyrics of Elizabeth Jennings and Louise Glück.
- Authors
Stevens, Jeremy
- Abstract
This article considers the continuing relationship between contemporary lyric poetry and prayer through readings of poems by Elizabeth Jennings (a British cradle-Catholic) and Louise Glück (an American of no professed religion). In different contexts, both turn to the concept of a "book of hours" for formal inspiration, and--like many contemporary poets--engage with prayer as a formal model for lyric poems. In a secular age this makes their lyrics self-reflexive, questioning lyric presence. Ultimately, however, prayer's formal involvement with lyric expression reveals that both prayer and lyric depend on a continuing capacity for (different kinds of) belief.
- Subjects
POETRY (Literary form); JENNINGS, Elizabeth, 1926-2001; POETS; CONTEMPORARY (The English word); CHRISTIANS
- Publication
Christianity & Literature, 2020, Vol 69, Issue 2, p237
- ISSN
0148-3331
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1353/chy.2020.0036