Book Review - a Treasury of Christian Poetry

A Treasury of Christian Poetry is a great book, surprisingly enough, it is not a best-seller. Published by Gramercy Books of New York, NY, this is an all-ages book. Mary Batchelor, who compiled this Christian Poetry compendium, wrote an entertaining introduction that is worth reading a few times itself.

This amazing book brings to life Biblical characters and Bible stories. A Treasury of Christian Poetry brings the Bible to life without being dry or dated or going off-topic. This book is a fantastic choice for both lay readers and Bible devotees. There were no illustrations in the book, which itself is a thick volume, compended from various sources and centuries.

This is a really excellent book. I took notes on the reading. I bought it from Crossings Book Club, read it for a few weeks, then donated it to a local hospital after notifying several peers and contemporaries of the existence of A Treasury of Christian Poetry.

There are modern authors whose poems are in this book, as well as authors such as William Shakespeare, Emily Bronte, Christina Rosetti, William Blake, Robert Burns, Emily Dickinson, Ben Johnson, and many others. Some of the poets are anonymous in A Treasury of Christian Poetry, some of the work has been translated or modernized into standard English.

This book is sensibly divided into chapters, such as In Touch with God, The Pilgrim's Way, Jesus the Christ, The Holy Spirit and the Church, and Daily Life.

Mary Batchelor, who compiled this book, kept the arrangement of the poems in A Treasury of Christian Poetry simple and orderly. The result is a very enjoyable book for regular people as well as an indispensable book for the church office or Rectory. This is a must-read for those who are presently writing Christian literature. Every Bible student should at least be able to read this book.

Entries in the book include - The Star of the Heart by Susan Mitchell, To a Waterfowl by William Cullen Bryant, Falling Leaves by Emily Bronte, Hereafter by William Cowper, Friends Departed by Henry Vaughan, Early Death by Hartley Coleridge, Dirge by Felicia Dorothea Hemans, and Fidele's Dirge by William Shakespeare.

This book was given excellent reviews by the London Daily Telegraph, Church of England Newspaper, and is touted by the Crossings Book Club, as an excellent book. A Treasury of Christian Poetry is a book that should be on your Christmas gift-giving list this year.