“The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”

This is how Gerard Manley Hopkins begins his famous poem, “God’s Grandeur,” one of three examples of devotional poetry highlighted by Leland Ryken in the featured article below. Do we pause to notice the created world that is charged with its Creator’s grandeur? In our hectic lives, do we take time to observe, like David did, that “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1)?

November is a good month to slow down and consider these things; to pay attention to the beauty around us, whether in autumn leaves or pumpkin pie. To give thanks. And poetry—among the other arts—can help us. At the beginning of another busy week, with long to-do lists and the hectic holiday season looming, I welcome the perspective and focus that poetry brings; the way it forces a certain attentiveness in our harried age. And as Ryken points out in his analysis of the three works below, poetry can be a great supplement to Scripture in a Christian’s devotional life.