A Testament of Witnesses and Other Poems
Ebook
This second collection of poems by David Lyle Jeffrey has two parts. In the first the primary imaginative world is biblical. How might those who witnessed the judgment of God or the miracles of Jesus first-hand have reacted to what they saw and heard? The Bible itself is typically terse, leaving gaps--but also hints--that prompt wonder. In the second part, a gathering of miscellaneous poems, are personal reflections, sometimes whimsical, on special gifts of grace received in the twilight of life.
“This collection of well-told story poems testifies to the
humanity of biblical characters from Ezekiel to Zacchaeus, from an
anonymous temple guard to St. Mark, from Mary to ‘The thorn-caught
lamb’ himself. The poet helps us to imagine likely thoughts,
emotions, bewilderments, and incredulities these historical people
experienced, enabling us to identify with them and to realize more
deeply the inexpressibly powerful effects of the prophesied and
actual life of Christ—to witness them ourselves.”
—Cynthia Erlandson, author of These Holy Mysteries
“David Lyle Jeffrey’s lifelong immersion in the Bible and its
influence on English literature culminates here in his second book
of poems with an extraordinary series of biblical figures’ imagined
interior monologues alongside a briefer collection of personal
devotional or playful poems, concluding with some beautiful nature
poetry. Carefully wrought and skillful rhymes combine a Miltonic
gravity and colloquial jauntiness which engage us where ‘ageless
memory cherished, gleams and joy finds reason, rhyme, and
dreams.’”
—Micheal O’Siadhail, author of The Five Quintets
“A Testament of Witnesses imagines what it is like to be a
prophet or an apostle. Some of these imaginings are solemn, some
entertaining. The deep engagement with these prophets and apostles
is stunning and makes us rethink our values. This is a powerful and
thoughtful celebration of faith.”
—Lee Johnson, University of British Columbia
“As an esteemed biblical and literary scholar, David Lyle Jeffrey
has devoted himself to the word, and these poems are the fruit of
this lifelong devotion. Deeply imagined and carefully wrought, they
ponder the unlikely paths by which God’s revelation is translated
and traditioned and, all too often, traduced.”
—Jeffrey Bilbro, Grove City College
“Readers will be staggered at how much scholarship and good humor,
how much formal dexterity and easy cadence, they find in these
poems. A Testament of Witnesses is startling, aloft, and all
of it singing an otherworldly glory.”
—Mischa Willett, Seattle Pacific University
- Title: A Testament of Witnesses and Other Poems
- Author: David Lyle Jeffrey
- Publisher: Resource Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2022
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666797299, 9781666797282, 1666797286, 9781666737622, 1666737623, 1666797294
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666797299
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-22T14:09:55Z