The title poem takes its name from a passage by Simone Weil, "We must not weep so that we may not be comforted." But in this and other poems, Robert Cording offers a more hopeful vision of our ability to find consolation in the world we inhabit--a world endowed will offer endless spiritual possibilities, both in nature and within ourselves.
The title poem takes its name from a passage by Simone Weil, "We must not weep so that we may not be comforted." But in this and other poems, Robert C...
In his poem, "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," William Blake hypothesized that "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." Of course, Blake's "doors of perception" are both hard to clean and even harder to keep clean. For John Ruskin, the famous 19th century art and social critic, seeing demanded a scientist's respect for fact, but also a love for what was being seen. These poems ask us to attend, with devotion and care, to a world which will always remain a mystery, but a mystery in which love calls us to the things of this world where we...
In his poem, "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," William Blake hypothesized that "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to m...
About the Contributor(s): Robert Cording teaches English and creative writing at College of the Holy Cross where he is the Barrett Professor of Creative Writing. He has published six collections of poems: Life-List, which won the Ohio State University Press/Journal award (1987); What Binds Us to This World (1991); Heavy Grace (1996); Against Consolation (2002); Common Life (2006); and his newest, Walking With Ruskin (2010).
About the Contributor(s): Robert Cording teaches English and creative writing at College of the Holy Cross where he is the Barrett Professor of Cr...
In Only So Far, Cording's poetry vacillates between complaint and praise, lamenting and loving our "sowre-sweet dayes" as George Herbert's poem "Bittersweet" puts it. Behind the book lies the story of the Promised Land that Moses never quite reaches, and those "little daily miracles" that Virginia Woolf says stand in as a kind of recompense for the "great revelation" that never does come. Poets and poetry readers will embrace Cording's eighth book of poems. His work is of interest to librarians and ministers in seminary programs.
In Only So Far, Cording's poetry vacillates between complaint and praise, lamenting and loving our "sowre-sweet dayes" as George Herbert's poem "Bitte...
