The One Year Book of Poetry

by Philip W. Comfort, Daniel Partner

This daily devotional of Bible-inspired poetry contains some of the most eloquent, inspiring, and profound poetry ever written. Readers will glean understanding, wisdom, and inspiration for life's struggles and victories. But most of all, they will learn more about their Savior and be inspired to devote their lives to him wholeheartedly. Includes indexes.

Genres: Poetry, Spirituality, Faith, Religion, Christianity

Paperback

Published October 1, 1999

About the author

Philip W. Comfort, Ph.D., has studied English literature, Greek, and New Testament at the Ohio State University and the University of South Africa. He has taught these classes at a number of colleges, including Wheaton College, Trinity Episcopal Seminary, Columbia International University, and Coastal Carolina University. He is currently senior editor of Bible reference at Tyndale and served as New Testament editor for the New Living Translation. He has contributed a number of books to the Tyndale collection, both as author and editor. Among these are The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament, The Origin of the Bible, The Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Essential Guide to Bible Versions, The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts (with D. Barrett), and Who's Who in Christian History�all of which are currently available at Tyndale.

Philip lives in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, with his wife, Georgia. His three children (Jeremy, John, and Peter) live nearby, as do his grandchildren. He enjoys the ocean, soccer, and writing poetry.

Reviews

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

2022 Review: Since I'd read it twice before, I thought I would try to forgo the commentary and just enjoy the poems. But I quickly noticed that most of the readings could not be understood without additional help. I'm not against helpful side notes, but I realized that this particular book is not an appropriate recommendation for someone who is beginning their poetry journey. It's too much work.

But, it's still one of my favorite books for having introduced me to the best metaphysical poets throughout the centuries.

2014 Review: Hands down the best book of devotional poetry available. No fluffy sing-songy stuff here. If you patiently sift through the old-fashioned language, you'll discover profound truths that will build your faith in new ways. The Lenten poems are amazing.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended by a friend, and I liked the idea of reading about the things of God written in verse form. This volume provides exactly what the sub-title states: a short poetry reading accompanied by some devotional commentary for each day of the year. The writers often include some background about the poet and some interpretive help (particularly for those older works which use more archaic language). They then draw a connection between the ideas and emotions expressed in the poem to the related ideas or doctrinal teachings found in Scripture, and end with a word of application to the reader and a relevant scripture passage.

This collection of poetry represents 102 different writers, ranging from as early as the 3rd century (Clement of Alexandria) to the early 20th century (T. S. Eliot).

Some of the subjects and themes touched on in these poems are God’s works of creation, providence, and redemption, His Word, prayer, faith, hope, love, heaven, service and obedience. Some poems focus on a specific incident or character from the Bible. Of course, often a person is moved to write poetry during dark times, so there are also poems that address subjects such as sorrow and affliction, temptation, death, sin, repentance, and judgment. There are poems for the seasons of Easter and Advent, and many that are simply verses and hymns of praise, thanksgiving and worship for who God is and what He has done.

You shouldn’t pick up this volume with the goal of learning doctrine or gaining instruction for godly living. What you can hope to come away with is reflections on the ways that God has worked in the lives of men and women, including your own. You will at times find the writers expressing thoughts and feelings you yourself have experienced, and their verses may touch a corner of your heart that may have otherwise remain untouched.

[Lisa Rathbun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the few books in my library that I bought new: when I saw it, I had to have it! There is a poem for every day of the year and on the opposite page a devotional based on it, often telling about the author. The devotional always ends with a pertinent Bible verse. I liked that most of these poems were older poems, not always as well known. I love reading poems from the 1500 and 1600s and recognizing fellow believers, brothers and sisters in Christ though separated by centuries! I do wish the some of the devotionals had more exploration of the content of the poem itself; some of them seemed to just pick the theme of the poem and then elaborate the spiritual lesson instead of studying a particular metaphor or turn of phrase. However, all in all, I found this book very enjoyable and enriching although certainly not light.

[Hannah K · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The poems selected are excellent. A lot of well-known, 'famous' Christian poems, but a whole bunch of ones I had never read before, and thoroughly enjoyed.

The accompanying devotionals were fine at first, but I got really annoyed with them by the end of the year (I read through this book as intended, one poem + devotional a day). I was frustrated by the simplistic, even didactic, tone of the devotionals. After reading an incredible, deep spiritual poem by George Herbert or John Donne, nobody wants to read Mr. Random Professor/Theologian saying "The ivy in this poem represents the Garden of Eden...We should trust Jesus so we can live in Eden again someday." I made that example up, but that's how the reflections/devos began feeling after a while. Childish. Trite. Sometimes I would read the poem and feel it speaking to me and giving me some spiritual insight, only to read the reflection and find the professor guy interpreting it completely differently. I downright disagreed with his interpretations sometimes, but what do I know?

Overall, I'd recommend this book as a great anthology of Christian poems, but feel free to skip the reflections. For insightful reflections on poetry, I'd recommend any of Malcolm Guite's poetry collections. I've read Waiting on the Word and The Word in the Wilderness, and found his commentary/reflections nearly as beautiful and inspiring as the poems themselves.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, I did really enjoy this book. The subject matter is unique and I’m glad that there were a variety of poetry in one volume. There were some repeat poets but that was okay for me because the reader gets more of a poet’s work rather than just one “most famous poem” and call it a day. There were a couple of poem reflections that leaned more towards the Calvinist side (predestination), so be mindful of that. I personally am not Calvinist, even so I don’t think it’s worth not reading the book just because of that, as the rest of the book is really good.

[Colleen Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

As is usual with poetry, different poems connect with different readers. This book contains quite a variety from the annuls of Christian poetry and hymnology, however, so there is probably something that will please anyone interested in the genre. I found the commentary, in general, intelligent and inspiring.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

And indeed, it took me one year to finish this one-year book of Christian poetry. Lots of good Christian poetry interspersed with some that is mediocre, along with commentary on each poem by Philip Comfort and Daniel Partner, much of which was insightful, some of which was not.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good devotional for those who love poetry, and I know wish someone would release one featuring contemporary poets, like Mary Oliver.