'A profoundly valuable collection, full of fresh perspective, and opening doors into all kinds of material that has been routinely neglected or patronized' Rowan Williams, TLS This rich and surprising anthology is a holistic, global survey of a lyric conversation about the divine, one which has been ongoing for millennia. Beginning with the earliest attributable author in all of human literature, the twenty-third century BCE Sumerian High Priestess Enheduanna, and taking in a constellation of voices - from King David to Lao Tzu, from the Epic of Gilgamesh to the Malian Epic of Sundiata - this selection presents a number of canonical figures like Blake, Dickinson and Tagore, alongside lesser-anthologized, diverse poets going up to the present day. Together they show the breathtaking multiplicity of ways humanity has responded to the spiritual, across place and time.

'Galvanises us to notice and care about our glorious natural world, through the words of an army of poets, ancient and modern' – Bel Mooney An anthology of poems to enter the bloodstream and rewild the spirit. As with all life on Earth, the climate emergency, species extinction, ecological disaster, global pandemics, economic collapse, war, genocide and social injustice are all interconnected — how do we face our fears? How do we find the courage to rebel against forces ranged against the Earth? This galvanising collection of poems spans 4,000 years of human history. Ranging from Nikolai Duffy's 'Against Metaphor' and Lord Byron's 'Darkness' to Allen Ginsberg's evocative 'Sunflower Sutra' and Jean 'Binta' Breeze's 'Tweet Tweet'. This book is not just a sanctuary in which to find solace from environmental grief but a manual for psychic resistance in the war against Nature. As Pablo Neruda said, 'Poetry is rebellion.'

This book delineates different manifestations of the vagabond spirit of poetry through the ages. In doing so, it makes claims for the efficacy of poetry in our industrialized world, where we are presented with environmental, political and economic challenges. The Vagabond Spirit of Poetry demonstrates that poems are vital now more than ever because they can transform our relations with each other and with the earth. It acknowledges the awesome power of poems by providing you with fresh ways to apprehend their profound spiritual insights. You will be surprised by how sharp your imagination becomes once you start following the paths opened by Edward Clarke's original readings. This region is full of unexpected turns and pleasant clearings. Beginning in the middle of things with Wordsworth, you will be taken on a journey from Shakespeare to Wallace Stevens. Significant older poets, including Homer, Virgil and Dante, will enliven conversations with the wisest British, Irish and American poets of the modern age. As you proceed, poetry will teach you how to put into practice its perennial wisdom.

"[When we read and write poetry,] it is as if a long-settled cloud in our mind suddenly dissipates, and we are divine once again." -- from the Introduction Poetry is the language of devotion in prayer, chant, and song. Reading and writing poetry creates clarity, deepens and expands spiritual inquiry, and cultivates wisdom, compassion, self-confidence, patience, and love. In author Robert McDowell's words, poetry makes you into a tuning fork of the Divine. But poetry has disappeared over the centuries from religious ceremonies, academic curricula, and public discourse. In Poetry as Spiritual Practice, the first inspirational and instructional guide to combine poetry and spirituality, McDowell restores poetry as the natural language of spiritual practice and invites you to recognize poetry as "the pure sound and shape of your spirit." Vividly illustrated with a wide range of poems from all historical eras and poetic traditions, numerous religions and faiths, and McDowell's own and his students' work, Poetry as Spiritual Practice will reintroduce you to the unique pleasure of verse. And meditations throughout will allow you to integrate reading and writing poetry into your spiritual journeys and daily life. Since many of us have long forgotten, or never learned, the mechanics and terminology of poetry -- trochaic feet and tropes trip us up; we can't tell a villanelle from its shorter cousin, rondeau; and a terza rima may as well be a tanka -- this is also an instructional handbook on reading and writing poetry. An engaging guide through the landscape of world poetry, McDowell argues along the way for the many practical benefits of poetic literacy. Making poetry an essential part of daily rituals, aspirations, and intentions will put you on the path to greater meaning, growth, and peace in your life. At once an engaging technical primer, a profound meditation on the relationship between poetry and the Divine, and an inspirational guide for integrating poetry into spiritual practice, Poetry as Spiritual Practice will become a cherished companion.

600 poems of vision, mysticism, and spirituality by poets such as Rumi, Dante, Kabir, Michaelangelo, Teresa of Avila, Donne, Milton, and others.

Collection of poems by the 1995 Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet.