The psalms are at once poetry, music, prayer, liturgy, and song. Their universal appeal comes from their capacity to express what we feel and that for which we yearn. In their original Hebrew, the psalms taken together were Israel's poetic and musical repertoire and served not only an expressive, but a sacred, purpose. In their manifest forms, the psalms give voice to the deepest human emotions and spiritual aspirations.

In the "Poets' Book of Psalms," poet Laurance Wieder has tapped into the enormous poetic resonance of the psalms and produced a unique psalter, an anthology of the 150 psalms translated by twenty-five English poets from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. His selections are interesting. They range from the obvious -- Milton, Donne, Herbert -- to the less so -- Burns, Coleridge, Vaughan -- to the virtually unknown -- Mary Sidney Herbert, George Wither, and George Sandys.

Wieder brings suitable talents to the enterprise. He is himself the author of "One Hundred Fifty Psalms," the first complete psalter written in English since Christopher Smart wrote the "Psalms of David" in 1765. He also is the co-editor of "Chapters into Verse," a magisterial two-volume anthology of poetry in English inspired by the Bible.

Like anyone who knows poetry, I wondered about some of Wieder's choices. He provides a cogent answer in his Introduction by clearly enunciating his criteria for inclusion: 1. that the works stand as poetry, not just translation, 2. that the poems be without anachronisms, 3. that the version should imitate the form, not just the content, of the original, 4. that the plain be preferred to the fancy (hence the underrepresented metaphysics!), 5. that the language be accessible to modern readers, and 6. that anonymous works and versified songs be excluded. With these criteria in hand, I could understand why there were more poems by Mary than George Herbert, more by John Hall than John Milton, and only one by John Donne.

A useful feature of the collection is its appendix containing The Book of Psalms from the King James (or Authorised) Version of the Bible, probably the best known psalter in English. Wieder, quite rightly in my estimation, regards these poems as having "authority but not a living person's voice." Personally, I think he might have done just as well, if not better, if he had included Miles Coverdale's translations in the Book of Common Prayer as his counterpoise. They have both authority and a living presence as poems read and spoken today.

Yet another million-selling calandar of dressed-up doggies. Calling Wegman a photographer is like calling Jeff Gillooly a skating coach!

I love Weimaraners, so I loved this calendar, full of beautiful pictures of a couple of dogs. The only thing I disliked was that some of the pictures are of dogs dressed as people, and I like dogs as dogs. But it is a great tribute to weimaraners.

I guess it takes a Weimaraner owner to appreciate the true genius of Wegman's photography. Weims are the most enigmatic, animated, tireless and human-like dogs I have ever known. Baylee, our 1 year old Weim, has no idea that she's not human!! you'll learn that he has been a Weim lover going on 30 years now and it definitely shows in his photography.

My rating is based on the inclusion of a single poem, one that states that equates AIDS with sin, relying on the verse from Romans that states that the wages of sin is death. I was saddened but unfortunately not surprised to find such misguided sentiment included in an otherwise lovely anthology. I don't issue this review for any other purpose than to warn those who also find that sentiment hurtful. I have once again been reminded that a religion that professes to be based on God's love would choose to vilify that which is different or unfamiliar.

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in the heavens."

This two-volume set is a wonderful introduction to both classic poetry and the stories and lyricism of the Bible. Each volume presents a collection of poems by well-known poets that were either drawn from Bible imagery or inspired by the stories of the Bible. The poetic intepretations of these well-known stories are so powerful that one feels carried back to Biblical times. An excellent and absorbing read.