American Poets And Their Theology

Excerpt from American Poets and Their Theology An old-fashioned theologian will be pardoned for indulging in proof-texts. Mere description of a poet's views Would fail to convince the reader of its justice, if it were not accompanied by definite quotations from the poet's writings: I have therefore, furnished ex cerpts wherever this was possible. As in the case of proof-texts from Scripture, there is danger that the extract, in separation from its context, may give wrong impressions of its real meaning. I have tried to fortify my interpretations by references to each poet's Life and Letters. Proof-texts, thus interpreted, express the substance of a document more clearly than the or dinary reader would gather it from the document as a whole. The ordinary reader, at least, will be grateful to me for saving his labor and time, while the critic will all the more enjoy his comparison of the quota tions with the originals. With the single additional proviso that my aim is the limited one of exhibiting not so much the poetical as the theological merits and demerits of the writers whom I describe, I commit my work to the candid consideration of all who love truth in literature. It is my humble offering to Christ and to the world on my eightieth birthday. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Elisa New examines the poems in great detail, offering searching readings and concluding finally that "it is 'regeneracy' rather than 'originality' that is the American poet's modus operandi and native mandate."