Poetry and religion have been linked since the first written texts of humanity, even before the Psalms of the Hebrew Bible. Exploring the relationship between poetry and religion within the realm of poetry in English, this volume begins in medieval times and ends with a collection of poems published in 2010, with strong emphasis given to the metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century. Nineteen essays cover the work of poets from various periods and continents, ranging from Julian of Norwich and the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing to Thomas Traherne, George Herbert, John...

This collection of essays examines interactions of war, peace and religion in the United States, a country where religious faith was, and still is, often deeply felt and widely held, where faith has provided a set of values to uphold with fervor or to transgress in protest, and where religion has been used to legitimize both armed violence and passive resistance. These essays analyze the mythos of America as a place of religious freedom, yet one imbued with a socially-imposed civil religion and underpinned by a heavy presumption of Protestant dominance. With subjects ranging from the War of...