Book Review: Eyes Have I that See: Selected Poems

Abstract

Have I That See: Selected Poems. By John Julian ojn. Brewster, Mass.: Paraclete Press, 2015. 96 pp. $18.00 (paper).Several poets, such as Rainer Maria Rilke and William Carlos Wilhams, looking back at the end of their Uves, have regretted rushing into print at a young age with nothing to say and no voice with which to say it. For example, in his Autobiography (New Directions Publishing, 1967), the sixty-eightyear-old William Carlos Wilhams chastised himself (not too gently) for publishing Poems 1909 when he was only twenty-six years old. He said: There is not one thing of the slightest value in the whole thin booklet-except the intent. In contrast, Have 1 That See is John Julians first book of poetry. The earliest poem in this book was published in 1959 and the most recent in 2015; forty-four of the poems have never appeared in journals or reviews, so no one can accuse the poet of rushing into print. And there is no denying that the book is well worth the wait.John Julian is an eight-one-year-old Episcopal priest and monk. He founded the contemplative monastic Order of Julian of Norwich in 1985, and is the author of nine scholarly books on Dame Julian and the devotional life. Along the way, through this extraordinarily fruitful fife journey, he has been writing poetry.Eyes Have 1 That See is a remarkable collection of poems which differ widely in style and genre, perhaps because they stretch in time and experience. Some of the poems have traditional rhyme patterns; others are in free verse. They alternate in style and theme, from the exquisite prayerpoem Oblation to a poignant eulogy, Vietnam Casualty #50,472; from Stigmata, a Don Quixote trio, to the koan Eyes Have I That See. The book culminates in and closes with a profound thirteen-part oratorio (my word) titled Ave Maria.The book opens with a powerful modern rendition of the fourteenthcentury prayer Anima Christi. John Julians twenty-first-century version is refreshingly modern yet captures the same passion and meaning of the original. John Julian's poem is infinitely livelier than the plodding translation created by Cardinal John Henry Newman in 1854. To my ears, John Julian's use of concrete words, internal rhyme, and consistent rhythm of Soul of Christ, O, consecrate me; / Flesh of Christ, emancipate me; / Blood of Christ, intoxicate me . (p. 7) work much better than Newman's now classic Soul of Christ, be my sanctification; / Body of Christ, be my salvation; / Blood of Christ, fill all my veins. …