Description

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Professor of literature, scholar, teacher of poets and poetry, convert to the Eastern Orthodox Church, man of prayer, Donald Sheehan wrote these wide-ranging essays with a common commitment to understanding the ways in which the ruining oppositions of our experience can be held within the disciplines of lyric art—held “until God Himself can be seen in the ruins . . . and overwhelmingly and gratefully loved.” That is what Sheehan means by “the grace of incorruption.” Part One weaves together themes from Sheehan’s life and pilgrimages; the spiritual art of Orthodox Saints Gregory of Nyssa, Isaac and Ephraim of Syria, Sergius of Radonezh, Herman of Alaska; the literary art of Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Frost, Salinger, and contemporary poets Jane Kenyon, Sydney Lea, and Nicholas Samaras; the philosophy of René Girard—examining the nature of penitence, prayer, personhood, freedom, depression, and the right relationship to the earth. Part Two delves into the poetics of Psalms, especially LXX 118: a “poetics of resurrection,” a poetics that came to govern the lifework of an extraordinary man, blessed with faith, learning, and humility.

About the Author

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Donald Sheehan received a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He began his teaching career at the University of Chicago in 1967 and concluded it at Dartmouth, from which he retired in 2004. From 1978 to 2005 he served as Executive Director of The Frost Place in Franconia, NH, where he created internationally acclaimed writing programs and inspired many contemporary poets. Received into the Orthodox Church in 1984, he was ordained a subdeacon and turned much of his attention to praying, teaching, and writing about Psalms, until his repose on May 26, 2010.

Praise For…

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“From start to finish, this beautiful book is a spiritual ‘powerhouse,’ a grace-filled stream, a gift of joy – from the tender, perceptive heart and mind of the author, the lay poet-theologian Donald Sheehan (1940 – 2010), into our own hearts and minds!  And it's a double labor of love: first, Don's very careful crafting of the articles, writing as a true wordsmith; and second, the superb editing work done by his beloved wife, Xenia, after his repose in the LORD...Acute pain, acute joy, moments of darkness, and moments of radiant, triumphant light all suffuse this truly remarkable book by a truly remarkable man – mystic, poet, teacher, translator, sage, and ardent lover of Christ.  He is one who has already deeply touched the lives of many through his own unforgettable life.  Now he lives on in a very real way in this book – through which, I'm sure, he will touch the lives of many more, by the grace of our LORD Jesus Christ.” —Dr. David Ford, Professor of Church History,St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary

“Forgive the personalism of this comment, but I am dead certain that my response to this volume will chime with those of others whose work is held up to the light in The Grace of Incorruption. On beholding Donald Sheehan's elucidation of our efforts, in one beautiful sentence after another, we must share the uncanny sense of never having understood our own hearts -- not until we saw them reflected in the great heart (and mind) of this nonpareil commentator. Don Sheehan did not merely understand poetry; it was part and parcel of his own great soul.” —Sydney Lea,Vermont Poet Laureate

“This was a very difficult book for me to read, as--now and again--my own tears blinded me to the page, and my own sobbing shook the papers in my hands.  That is to say that Donald Sheehan's journey--through both brokenness and beauty--to a deep and healing calm is at once personal and universal.  With a poet's visionary prose, a scholar's acuity, and a pilgrim's devotion, Donald Sheehan offers his reader access to the profound, compelling stillness at the heart of all things.  He proves an exceedingly good guide along the way.” —Scott Cairns, author of Slow Pilgrim: Collected Poems

“The overabundant sparseness of Don Sheehan's life grabbed my heart. From St. Ephraim and Shakespeare to Frost and Holy Scripture, this book illumines his truly ascetic struggle. Like the word of God, it is ‘sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart’ (Heb. 4.12). If you are willing to take the time, he will strip back every distraction to reveal the ‘drama of intimacy’ we sadly so often distractedly miss.” —Archpriest Thomas Moore