The New Oxford Book of Christian Verse Paperback – October 2, 2003

The next time that someone tries to convince you that "Christian literature" is a bunch of platitudinous self-help books or smarmy watered-down knock-offs of Laura Ingalls Wilder, direct them to this great volume. Many of the greatest poets ever have known Christ, and Christ knew them, and books such as this prove it.

This is an excellent book, of which I had to repurchase for my now 9 year old daughter. She read the binding off of the paperbook version, so we bought this hardcover. I'm thankful it is still in print as it is dificult to find worthy material for my little poet to learn from enjoy.

I'm reading this as a devotional aid, and finding it to be a heart-stirring, facinating way to start the day. To consider the thoughts and feelings of Christians who lived centuries ago is very refreshing. Highly recommended.

arrived yesterday! pleased with copy,thank you.

I think it's likely that the lack of the poets and poems that you hoped to find could have to do with whether Oxford Press were able to get permissions from the copyright holders to include those texts or authors. Though this would be less of an issue for authors who died more than 75 years ago (that's the copyright law in the U.S.; I don't know what the U.K. law requires), there are some estates of deceased poets who will not allow anthology inclusion of some or all works by a given author. And even though Oxford UP is a large publisher for this kind of material, it's possible that the fees or royalty requirements for some works or authors were too high. By the way, this also has a big impact on the poetry that may be set to music and then published. There are significant texts and authors whose works are simply not allowed to be used that way. However, I would agree that some omissions are frustrating; for me, that means poetry that I don't know by writers who are familiar to me. And when I am working on learning a piece of music (I am a classical singer and conductor) and the entire poem isn't used or seems to have been altered, I would like to see a reliable edition of that text. This is an important reason (for me) that I buy this and other anthologies. But no anthology will satisfy everyone's hopes and desires. (Nothing will do that! ;-)

Even though this may not be the best collection of Christian poetry ever, this is still a good, solid collection.Davie apparently went for quantity, adding Christian poets you may never have read before, which does add interest. On the other hand, I thought the scanty collections of John Donne, T S Eliot and Gerard Manley Hopkins were really a shame. It does contain a slew of Emily Dickinson poems, however.George Herbert is very well represented, including "The Pulley". Yet the poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins' "Carrion Comfort" that takes the same theme is missing, with the lyrical tug and release of man and God, just as Herbert's "Peace" is in the book but Hopkins' "When will you ever, Peace, wild wooddove, shy wings shut/ Your round me roaming end, and under be my boughs?" is not to be found. These two poems, so similar and so utterly different, beg to be placed within one volume.There are no biographies or discussions of the poetry, just the poems themselves.Still and all, a book worth the money.

Mama Dai Fell Through the Floorand Other Cultural Missionary Storiesby Diana Baird"While serving as a foreign missionary in remote and tropical Papua, Indonesia, Diana Baird experienced action-packed fun and adventure, laughter, heartache, tears, and discouragement.She relates her collection of short stories, Mama Dai Fell Through the Floor, to memories from her personal journals kept while serving in Indonesia. These journals will challenge those who say they could never go and live in a foreign country. Baird uses true life stories from her first few years of experiencing language and culture in Papua as a personal challenge for the reader.Mama Dai Fell Through the Floor will have you crying, laughing, and reconsidering your thoughts about foreign culture and language adjustment.[...]Mama Dai Fell Through the Floor is also available in e-book and audio book form. Also see Tate Publishing's web page for details.

Although this book covers the majority of great Christian poetry, it leaves out some key authors such as Galway Kinnell. Its choice of John Donne poems is puzzling. Further, there are no biographical or textual notes that would help the reader. I had hoped to use this book for a high school class, but it will not be helpful to my students.

Not as much contemporary stuff as I wanted.