PREFACE
When I was seventeen, in my junior year of high school, I discovered a blue anthology of poetry which when opened and read, instilled in me a profound sense of happiness. For the life which breathed forth from those poems expressed a life I was leading and have led ever since. That life was one of freshness and freedom, a life acutely aware of the spiritual realm, and of life everlasting. I became fully convinced that the poet, in order to fulfill his role as an artist, must become an instrument of the Divine One for the sake of his fellow man, in a spirit of servitude. Much in the same way Saint Francis Of Assisi asked to become God's instrument on earth, the poet must ask for that same charism, if he truly wishes his work to be authentic. I was confirmed in this belief when I read The Summa Theologica by Saint Thomas Aquinas at the same time I discovered my calling as a poet, as one does enter a royal priesthood. This idea and ideal is not confined to Christendom, as it has been expressed for centuries, in literature, and in other art forms, to different degrees, in most cultures of the world.
Poetry, like music, has a universal appeal to all of humanity. Yet unlike music, verse, to be generous, requires translations if indeed the poetry is authentic and worthy to be introduced to peoples and nations beyond the poet's own native vernacular. Hence, the importance of translators is incalculable in the realm of poetry. One thinks of Chaucer in this regard, or even Baudelaire, who brought Poe's writings to the French masses.
The purpose of poetry is, through words inspired, to convey the realities of love, beatitude, existential adventure and sometimes darkness or suffering to and for the sake of the reader. The poet is therefore a servant. Poetry must always be something more than a mere form of entertainment. The reader must be assured that he does not suffer alone in a cosmic void, that love is indeed real and is the source and end of life.
The eighty-four sonnets which comprise this volume are true to these principles. They appear in the order in which they were written, and adhere to a composite whole.
JOHN LARS ZWERENZ
New York
2012
When I was seventeen, in my junior year of high school, I discovered a blue anthology of poetry which when opened and read, instilled in me a profound sense of happiness. For the life which breathed forth from those poems expressed a life I was leading and have led ever since. That life was one of freshness and freedom, a life acutely aware of the spiritual realm, and of life everlasting. I became fully convinced that the poet, in order to fulfill his role as an artist, must become an instrument of the Divine One for the sake of his fellow man, in a spirit of servitude. Much in the same way Saint Francis Of Assisi asked to become God's instrument on earth, the poet must ask for that same charism, if he truly wishes his work to be authentic. I was confirmed in this belief when I read The Summa Theologica by Saint Thomas Aquinas at the same time I discovered my calling as a poet, as one does enter a royal priesthood. This idea and ideal is not confined to Christendom, as it has been expressed for centuries, in literature, and in other art forms, to different degrees, in most cultures of the world.
Poetry, like music, has a universal appeal to all of humanity. Yet unlike music, verse, to be generous, requires translations if indeed the poetry is authentic and worthy to be introduced to peoples and nations beyond the poet's own native vernacular. Hence, the importance of translators is incalculable in the realm of poetry. One thinks of Chaucer in this regard, or even Baudelaire, who brought Poe's writings to the French masses.
The purpose of poetry is, through words inspired, to convey the realities of love, beatitude, existential adventure and sometimes darkness or suffering to and for the sake of the reader. The poet is therefore a servant. Poetry must always be something more than a mere form of entertainment. The reader must be assured that he does not suffer alone in a cosmic void, that love is indeed real and is the source and end of life.
The eighty-four sonnets which comprise this volume are true to these principles. They appear in the order in which they were written, and adhere to a composite whole.
JOHN LARS ZWERENZ
New York
2012
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