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To Scorch or Freeze

Poems about the Sacred

Here Davie, a writer attuned to both the changes of the modern world and a living literary tradition, turns to the lapsed poetic practice of translation and imitation of the Psalms of David. The result is a series of poems that speak powerfully of moral indignation and spiritual discovery within the complex of modernity.

"Few modern poets have managed to achieve Donald Davie’s sense of human worth."—Times Higher Educational Supplement

62 pages | © 1988

Phoenix Poets

Poetry

Table of Contents

The Thirty-ninth Psalm, Adapted
Benedictus
Poet Redeemed & Dead
Attar of Roses
Sing Unto The Lord A New Song
"So make them melt as the dishousèd snail"
God Saves The King
Meteorologist, September
Vengeance Is Mine, Saith The Lord
Standings
Church Militant
Curtains!
"And Our Eternal Home"
Zion
Felicity’s Fourth Order
Put Not Your Trust in Princes
Their Rectitude Their Beauty
Except The Lord Build The House
Inditing A Good Matter
The Creature David
Saw I Never The Righteous Forsaken
The Elect
The Zodiac
"Just You Wait!"
Bowing The Head
Widower
Master & Man
Levity
Witness
Our Lady
The Ironist
Thou Art Near At Hand, O Lord
The Nosegay
Gripping Serial
I Have Said, Ye Are Gods
David Dancing
Dancing Measures
Being Angry With God
The Comforter
Cannibals
Woe Unto Thee!
Kingship
Ordinary God
Nashville Mornings
Brilliance
If I Take The Wings Of The Morning

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