This text is beautifully organized; it's intriguing, and leads the reader on from reference to reference, poem to poem. It's littered with examples and a wide variety of poems, citing old works as well as contemporary reworkings of old forms, Neruda and Keats under Odes, Passerat (16th century) and Weldon Kees (20th century) under Villanelles. Definitions are clear and easy to understand. A fun read, a great resource.

If you are a professional, aspiring or amateur poet, this book is a must have. Part anthology, part dictionary, part encyclopedia, it provides indespensible and clear advice. There is inspiration on practically every page!

An invaluable aid to anyone interested in reading or writing poetry. Arranged alphabetically, as you would suspect, the book covers forms, poetic movements, the elements of poetry, and rhetorical devices. My highest recommendation. A continuing source of information and inspiration.

This is the first of the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3). The subsequent ones are merely variations on this first one. Accomplishing this one will accomplish them all.

To be poor in spirit is to shed oneself of all security, identity, importance, power, etc., anything that separates us from our humanity, and from God himself. The last days of Christ reveal the true meaning of what it is to be a human being, completely defenseless, stripped even of one's clothing, and abandoned by one's supporters. He resisted all temptation to call upon his divine powers throughout, choosing instead to embrace and experience in full the humann experience. To complete this experience is the cornerstone of Christ's Victory, and the cornerstone of the path of salvation for his followers.

When Christ utters the words "Eloi, Eloi, why have you forsaken me?" the impoverishment is complete, his victory is complete, his life is complete, and the new covenant is established.

This is a book to read in a single evening. It is only 60 very small pages. But it is a book that will take a lifetime to really understand. It is a map to the kingdom of heaven.

Metz singles out poverty as the key to salvation and union with God because poverty as he sees it is the summit and fulfillment of our natures and our participation in creation. Poverty of spirit recognizes the essential unfulfillment of the present human state, the poverty of lacking union with God. God is humanity's highest and only good; poverty of spirit recognizes the forlorn state of humanity. All pride and accomplishment which does not tend towards spiritual poverty is mere vanity and self-reliance. It is, as Metz points out, a devastating realization to become poor in spirit if one puts great stock in pride and oneself; the point of poverty of spirit is God and our need for Him, not some self-glorification or accomplishment. This book preaches an understanding of how humanity substantially relates to God: we are poor and broken and have an infinite longing for nothing but Him. Metz does an outstanding job of relaying these very difficult concepts in a clear and concise fashion.

An intelligent,conscise book that get's straight to the point about the message and proper insight into the teachings of Jesus without useless filler. This is a book to be read and studied in its simplistic, clear cut instructions on how to obtain purpose and fulfillment in this life. I would compare this book with Emmet Foxs' "Lord's Prayer" Short but full of wisdom!

This is an amazing work whose only fault is that it was not published by a larger house. Drury clearly outlines his argument against the commonly held notion of a balance of nature. He finds the idea of ecological communities succeeding to climax a distasteful one, and rightly so. Drury advocates actually thinking about problems rather than hiding behind an orthodoxy that seems to know all the answers.

He realizes that the world is a continually changing, dynamic place with an unpredictable quirkiness. It is not, as is so often assumed, a world where "ecosystems", left to their natural states, will go back to what they "ought" to be. He argues that we should conserve the world because we can, and not because of abstract notions of the intrinsic value of life. We want to save the world because we like critters, and we should fess up to it.

Drury was not a scheming wise-user, as may be inferred from his criticism of the environmentalist movement. He just wanted people to think about what they had learned about ecology in the century since Clements and Forbes.

Think people think!

Drury's work is a classic. It includes discussions of issues in psychiatry and religion by a friend of Ludwig Wittgenstein's, the great philosopher whose works "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" and "Philosophical Investigations" remain controversial and highly influential today in philosophy -- especially analytical philosophy, (the late) logical positivism, and the philosophy of language. Students interested in any of these fields will also benefit from Drury's work, and it can especially recommended to those who enjoy Wittgenstein's own writing, or who are interested in how it might be applied to issues such as psychiatry and religion.

Robert Drury was a 15 year old English sailor when his ship The "Degrave" ran aground on Madagascar in the early 1700's. All the crew were either killed or enslaved by the natives. After 15 years, Drury escaped and returned to England. He left this account of his adventure when he died. Some say his journal is fiction and is the work of Daniel Defoe. But "Sources for Robert Drury" tells how church records of the time list a person who's name was Robert Drury or Robert Jury, and who was not only born at the time of the protagonist, but entered the navy at the same time. A recent expedition to Madagascar found that all locations and historical references in the book are accurate. If Defoe realy did write the book, then he first heard the story from the real Robert Drury.

This book is so inspiring and moving for those of faith, little faith, and no faith. The author presents us with a way of looking at the sacraments in a fundamental way: as a sign/symbol that points to something greater than the sign/symbol itself, while maintaining deep spiritually down to earth examples. It is in plain English with no hard to understand theological terms or lingo and will not take you a long time to read. However, it is a book that can be enjoyed by scholars as well as those who just want to get a small glimpse into the vast theological world of the Sacraments.

This is a crucial, beautifully translated text for those seeking a personal understanding of the way of the Cross. Do not miss it.

This is an absolutely exquisite book, with highgloss paper and wonderful color reproductions of marvelous paintings.

To this, Drury offers his expert commentary on how one might look at these paintings to see the painter's perspective on the Christian faith.

One will learn much about looking at paintings, and will never casually observe a painting again. I especially have grown fond of two paintings that this marvelous book acquainted me with, Titian's "Vendramin Family" and Lippi's "The Annunciation." Drury's comments here are very useful.

I would like to give this five stars, but withheld this because of my disagreement theologically with Drury. His theology is far too liberal for me, and I'm afraid that he will sway many who will trust his opinion of Divine Scripture as "the gospel truth, or historical critical truth."

A book to consider to turn to to aid one in viewing Christian painting.

Painting The Word is a truly outstanding guide to Christian paintings and their meanings brings art and spirituality together in an inspiring coverage. More than a history of painting, this discusses how Christian images reflected and influenced Christian civilization as a whole, with a universal quality delivering balanced messages. Color reproductions of significant Christian works appear throughout.

This survey of links between Christian worship and paintings provides a fine analysis of how Christian paintings convey their messages. Plenty of examples from Christian paintings from all eras accompany insights which began with the dean author's sermons on the topic. The result will interest any concerned with Christian images.

. . . for those who wish to learn more about the poetic ways of writing. John Drury has provided straight forward text diving into the creative steps of writing poetry for the novice and expert. Most poets would like to think of themselves as experts, but in most cases they are not. I think adding this publication to your library would certainly help in that venture.

This book was an excellently written. I loved the exercises given. They were extremely helpful to beginner and professional poet alike. I recommend this book to everyone. Even non-poets who are looking to expand their creativity.
There is enough background information as well given for the form poetry. I found that helpful and informative.
There were so many poem exercises that I will be doing them for years to come.

John Drury is Dean of Kings College in Cambridge. In the compact approach to Parables in the Gospels, his chief aim is to focus upon the meaning and use of parables... "inherited from Jewish tradition, to understand them in the contexts of the books in which they occur."

From references to Old Testament prophets who used figurative means to make their historical points, such as, Samuel to David, Ezekiel and Hosea to their generations, he moves into the New Testament. From the Synoptic Gospel Parables of Jesus, he slips into John's Parables of Light, Shepherd, Fig tree and the Vine. Next he wanders into the Apocrypha Books of I and II Esdras, Tobit and Ecclesiaticus. Most of his comments from these unique sources come in the chapter on Luke. He uses 50 pages for his discussion of Lucan parables over against fewer pages for those of Matthew and Mark.

Thomas Long's approach in his "Preaching the Parables" at Emory-Candler School of Theology is to combine Drury's text alongside those of Father John Donahue and A. J. Hultgren. I discovered that Donahue initiates my interest in the Parable at hand - then Professor Drury continues to develop it without footnotes and fewer references. Following them, I am directed to Hultgren who combines both of their resources, focusing upon Jeremias, Dodd, Julicher, Bultmann and Crossan.

Overall, I am deeply indebted to John Drury for developing my late interest in becoming a student of Jesus' Parables! Chaplain Fred W. Hood