Poets of the Bible: From Solomon’s Song of Songs to John’s Revelation

Scholar, poet, and translator Barnstone (The Poetics of Translation) draws from biblical, apocryphal, and gnostic texts for this absorbing collection of religious poems, which he categorizes as either “Old Testament” or “New Testament.” In his own translations from Hebrew and Greek, Barnstone renders the texts in a variety of poetic forms, including long narrative poems in eight-line stanzas from Samuel, Job, and Ruth, and aphorisms, such as “Lily”: “A lily among thorns/ Is my love among women.” Barnstone uses Hebrew and Aramaic, rather than Anglicized names, as in “Expulsion from the Garden”: “The man names his woman Havah/ Because she is the mother of all the living.” His translations allow familiar narratives to be heard in fresh ways: “Those who live in a land of shadow/ See the dawn blaze.” Brief introductions offer insights into the poetry of each book, such as the “secret sayings” from the Gospel of Thomas: “What you look for has come/ But you do not know it.” Thoughtful selections, a visually arresting presentation, and intriguing translations make these collected poems a valuable addition to biblical literature. [em](June) [/em]