TAMBOURINES! TAMBOURINES TO GLORY!

by Nancy--Ed. Larrick ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 25, 1982

Seventy-six small prayers in verse, including one by Mary Baker Eddy, a few by Peter and Catherine Marshall, one e. e, cummings, a Robert Frost, Browning's ""Pippa's Song,"" a Christina Rossetti (""What can I give Him/ Poor as I am. . .""), Emily Dickinson's ""I never saw a moor. . ."" and eight Madeleine L'Engles. Tiny Tim's ""God bless us every one"" and other pleas for God to bless the poor, people on the roads, and little things, mix with Alan Paton's appeal to social conscience (""Give us courage, O Lord, . . . to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. . .""), a different sort of social training (""Make me polite""), a little character-building ("". . . help me to be so strong/ that I shall never let another be blamed/ for my faults, if I can help it""), a straight-and-narrow shapeup (""Help me never to develop habits or to indulge in pleasures which would make me physically less fit""), and a lot of bland and banal devotions that no one could feel deeply. Clearly, few of these can be judged as poetry. As prayers, they may serve the current nostalgia for old-fashioned piety, but they are unlikely to inspire a renewal of either ethical conviction or the religious sensibility Langston Hughes was celebrating in the title poem.

Pub Date: May 25, 1982

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Westminster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1982

Categories: NONFICTION