Teresa of Avila, “Christ Has No Body” [Poetry for Easter]

Each week during Eastertide I am posting a poem that helps me engage more meaningfully with Jesus' resurrection. Here is Teresa of Avila's poem "Christ Has No Body." Teresa was a 16th century Carmelite nun in Spain best known as a mystic, reformer, and writer who experienced divine visions. Her most important works include her …

R. S. Thomas, “Resurrection” [Poetry for Easter]

Each week during Eastertide I am posting a poem that helps me engage more meaningfully with Jesus' resurrection. Here is R. S. Thomas' poem "Resurrection" from Selected Poems. Thomas was an Anglican priest and a leading Anglo-Welsh poet of the 20th century. Easter. The grave clothes of winterare still here, but the sepulchreis empty. A …

Emily Dickinson, “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” [Poetry for Easter]

Each week during Eastertide I am posting a poem that helps me engage more meaningfully with Jesus' resurrection. Here is Emily Dickinson's poem "'Hope' is the thing with feathers." While Emily Dickinson was anything but an orthodox Christian, many of her poems, such as this one, capture the power of religious themes and the deeper …

T. S. Eliot, “East Coker” [Poetry for Easter]

Each week during Eastertide I am posting a poem that helps me engage more meaningfully with Jesus' resurrection. Here is stanza IV of T. S. Eliot's poem "East Coker," which is from Four Quartets (1943). Thomas Stearns Eliot is probably the most famous twentieth-century English-language poet, renowned for his groundbreaking work typified in poems like …

Christian Wiman, “Every Riven Thing” [Poetry for Easter]

Each week during Eastertide I am posting a poem that helps me engage more meaningfully with Jesus' resurrection. Here is Christian Wiman's poem "Every Riven Thing," which is from Every Riven Thing (2011). Christian Wiman is a contemporary poet and essayist who edited Poetry (2003-2013) and serves at Yale Divinity School as Professor of the …