Like the religious service for which this romantic collection is named, An Evensong employs poetic forms within an ecclesiastical context as it endeavors to order and make meaning of our broken world. Using characters and settings as varied as monks in medieval monasteries, middle-aged sons in suburban shopping malls, poets in funeral parlors, and combat veterans in college classrooms, these poems form a congregation that longs to receive grace, and yet this revelation often seems beyond mere human grasp. To assist with this mystical pursuit, the verses turn to the scriptures, mythology, history, and the arts to discern some truth from these transcendent traditions. Although the poems do not shy away from humanity’s propensity for destruction, their inherently creative discipline leads them on a journey toward a creative God, one whom they might glimpse with hope and wonder. Thus, the collection becomes a meditation on devotion and worship, much like its namesake’s liturgy, interested in how our relationship with the Word creates a meaningful existence.
About the author
Nathaniel A. Schmidt’s poetry can be found in various journals including Windhover, Perspectives, The Anglican Theological Review, and The Penwood Review. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in English from Calvin College, and a Master’s degree, also in English, from the University of Illinois Springfield, he has taught for Spring Arbor University, Jackson College, and Grace College. Originally from the Chicago-land area, he currently resides in southwest Michigan, where he continues to find joy in the Word.
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