When the world gets quarrelsome, many turn to prayer—which is fortunate; but not many turn to poetry—which is unfortunate. Prayer and poetry are mysteriously similar, though: words seeking wisdom, spiritual interaction, and renewal; both springing from man’s desire to live forever. There is an old proverb that says a man who doesn’t love poetry when…

When I was a senior in college, one of my professors told me, “If you want to find a good translation of the Bible in English, you can find it in one that contains the word ‘verily.’” Of course, that was back in 1982, when it would have taken a fair bit of legwork on…