Uproar

Antiphonies to Psalms

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Poetry History & Criticism, Poetry, Inspirational & Religious, American
Cover of the book Uproar by Brooks Haxton, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Brooks Haxton ISBN: 9780307548627
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Publication: March 25, 2009
Imprint: Knopf Language: English
Author: Brooks Haxton
ISBN: 9780307548627
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication: March 25, 2009
Imprint: Knopf
Language: English

In this book of homemade psalms, Brooks Haxton brings the poetry of the original psalmists, their awe and their music, into our world of jet planes and space travel, automatic rifles and suburban pleasures. As he writes in his preface, “I take psalms less as doctrine than as outcries, and I cry back in these poems from whatever vantage I can find.” The result is lucid, touching verse that connects the exalted language of scripture with everyday experience. In a poem called “Dark,” for example, Haxton riffs on the gorgeous line “The night also is thine” (Psalm 74) as he stands on his front stoop on a particularly black night. “Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures” (Psalm 36) brings forth a poem about the perilous joy of bodysurfing. And his response to Psalm 58, “The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance,” becomes a poem about Westmoreland in Vietnam.

These vibrant scraps of ancient text reverberate with intimations of the immediate present, and Haxton’s poetry, in response, is fresh, funny, and tender. In the pain of doubt, and even in the burlesque of irreverence, he explores the mystery of our abiding passion for the sacred.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this book of homemade psalms, Brooks Haxton brings the poetry of the original psalmists, their awe and their music, into our world of jet planes and space travel, automatic rifles and suburban pleasures. As he writes in his preface, “I take psalms less as doctrine than as outcries, and I cry back in these poems from whatever vantage I can find.” The result is lucid, touching verse that connects the exalted language of scripture with everyday experience. In a poem called “Dark,” for example, Haxton riffs on the gorgeous line “The night also is thine” (Psalm 74) as he stands on his front stoop on a particularly black night. “Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures” (Psalm 36) brings forth a poem about the perilous joy of bodysurfing. And his response to Psalm 58, “The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance,” becomes a poem about Westmoreland in Vietnam.

These vibrant scraps of ancient text reverberate with intimations of the immediate present, and Haxton’s poetry, in response, is fresh, funny, and tender. In the pain of doubt, and even in the burlesque of irreverence, he explores the mystery of our abiding passion for the sacred.

More books from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Cover of the book The Shakespeare Requirement by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book Brazil on the Move by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book TO SEE YOU AGAIN by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book DNA by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book Homelands and Waterways by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book So I Am Glad by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book Nightmare Town by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book On Sunset by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book Gettysburg: The Final Fury by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book Little Demon in the City of Light by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book Dancing in Buenos Aires by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book I Stand Corrected by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book El coronel no tiene quien le escriba by Brooks Haxton
Cover of the book Half-Jew by Brooks Haxton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy