Overview

Words to God's Music is the first complete poet's version of the Psalter since Christopher Smart's 18th-century Psalms of David. Each of these 150 poems is a unique response to the corresponding biblical psalm, and speaks to and from the heart. Some of these poems live fairly close to their biblical originals; some stand as commentaries or variations on the text; some venture afield. Neither translations nor interpretations in the strictest sense, they get to the heart of the psalms with an awareness of how they speak to both the eternal and the immediate, living moment. Revised and corrected version of the acclaimed, out-of-print 2003 edition.

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9781733090735

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Reviews

These are not translations but 150 poetic reflections prompted by the Psalms. To the objection that this is not what a psalm actually says, the response is that this is what a psalm suggests, at least to Laurance Wieder, who is acutely attentive to inspired suggestiveness. --First Things, March 2004 Wieder teaches readers the necessity of lingering over words as a lover lingers over every detail of the beloved's body. His poems shock and inspire; they move to tears and generate anger--just as biblical psalms do. --James Crenshaw, Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies Laurance Wieder...captures the music of devotion and doubt that all souls sing inside themselves in all ages, refashioning the old into something new, something eternal, ...sublime and unforgettable. --Paul Auster

Author Information

Laurance Wieder's other writings include A Look Ahead: Selected Poems 1966-2018; The Poets' Book of Psalms; After Adam: The Books of Moses; Isaiah's Closing Arguments: A New Translation; and a selection of essays, Poetry History Music Art. His poems and essays have appeared in The New Yorker; Scripsi; Paris Review; Books & Culture; The Weekly Standard; First Things, and elsewhere.

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