The Weather of the Heart: Selected Poems

by Madeleine L'Engle

Madeleine L'Engle bids us, in her own words, to "sit at sacrament" with her "across a strange and distant table." It is a paschal event, a meal of rememberence.

Where her own hurt is cruciform, we are the more alive. When she admits arrogance in Gethsemane, we, too, remember glutting on unleavened loaves. But as she herself

"Never was a feast finer than this. Come, eat and drink, unfreeze and live." --Calvin Miller, author of The Singer Trilogy

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Spirituality, Religion, Christian

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science.

Reviews

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to get to know L'Engle as a poet better, and The Weather of the Heart shows many of the same themes and images from her other writings in poetic form. I especially enjoyed her sonnets (see below) and her very short poems, where she lets the image strike and resound. It's rare to find a writer proficient in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. While L'Engles poetry doesn't quite meet the heights she achieves in her other works, she is a capable and clear poet, serving the image and making new the mundane.

"...Set to the Music of the Spheres"
Pain is a partner I did not request;
This is a dance I did not ask to join;
Whirled in a waltz when I would stop and rest,
Jolted and jerked, I ache in bone and loin.
Pain strives to hold me close in his embrace;
If I resist and try to pull away
His grasp grows tighter; closer comes his face;
Hotter his breath. If he is here to stay
Then must I learn to dance this painful dance,
Move to its rhythm, keep my lagging feet
In time with his. Thus have I a chance
To work with pain, and so may pain defeat.
Pain is my partner. If I dance with pain
Then may this wedlock not be loss but gain.

"At Communion"
Whether I kneel or stand or sit in prayer
I am not caught in time nor held in space,
But, thrust beyond this posture, I am where
Time and eternity are face to face;
Infinity and space meet in this place
Where crossbar and upright held the One
In agony and in all Love's embrace.
The power in helplessness which was begun
When all the brilliance of the flaming sun
Contained itself in the small confines of a child
Now comes to me in this strange action done
In mystery. Break time, break space, O wild
And lovely power. Break me: thus I am dead,
Am resurrected now in wine and bread.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a couple of poems I liked, but overall, this was just not my cup of tea.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Why, my Lord, did you have to bring
me down from the safety of my hill
Into the danger of your will?" (David p. 34)

[Desiree Dunlap · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Peace is not placidity: peace is
The power to endure the megatron of pain
With joy, the silent thunder of release,
The ordering of Love. Peace is the atom’s start,
The primal image: God within the heart.”
from Sonnet, Trinity 18

Thus ends a compilation of Madeleine’s finest poetry. This is the first book of poetry that I have completed in quite some time, and there were nights where I was so immersed in these lines that I’d opt for their depth and brevity over my latest novel’s plot development. I consistently left these pages inspired to write, to capture my own story with a semblance of the intensity and intimacy that Madeleine gives away in this work. Her poems are simple, brilliant, sometimes offensively honest. They are rich with her history with God and tell of some of her most treasured relationships. It is testimony and genius and dripping with Light.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting poetry, most with a religious theme. A couple of them tugged at my heart.

[Mary Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one for heathens.

[Clement · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of Madeleine L'Engle's poetry is prefaced by short meditation on prayer and poetry and how, for L'Engle, "poetry and prayer are synonymous." It's perhaps no surprise then that when L'Engle's poetry sounds like prayer it is at its best and it falters when it doesn't. With the exception of the humorous poem, "The Dragon," nearly all of the poetry in the collection not dealing with spiritual things felt mediocre and a bit out of place. However, the spiritual poetry in this collection is more than deserving of a five star review and for returned readings and contemplation.

The spiritual poetry seems to roughly fall into three categories: poems written from the perspective of biblical characters, Christmas poetry, and prayer poems. The poems that give a unique perspective given to biblical characters were creative and fresh. In particular, the poem, "The Tenth Hour" is a small masterpiece. It presents the infrequently reflected upon story of the beloved disciple John coming to terms with becoming Mother Mary's second given son as Mother Mary comes to terms with the death of her firstborn son in a truly heart-wrenchingly beautiful way. The poems, "David" and "Moses," written from their respective perspectives were also fantastic. The "Christmas" poems featured were fairly creative but, some of the imagery utilized are definitely well-worn. "Like Every Newborn," however, was fantastic with the lines, "To show his love for us, discarding power and strength. / Girded for war, humility his mighty dress, / He moves into the battle wholly weaponless." Where the collection truly shines are the prayer poems. "Within This Strange and Quickened Dust," "Epiphany," "Burn, Charity," "From St. Luke's Hospital (2)," "Annunciation," After Annunciation," "Fire by Fire," "At Communion," "Ascension, 1969," and etc... My personal two favorites were, "Word" and "Sonnet, Trinity 18." From the poem, "Word," these lines: "I, who live by words, am wordless when / I try my words in prayer. All language turns / To silence. Prayer will take my words and then / Reveal their emptiness. The stilled voice learns / To hold its peace, to listen with the heart / To silence that is joy, is adoration. / The self is shattered, all words torn apart." From the poem "Sonnet, Trinity 18," these lines: "Peace is not placidity: peace is: / The power to endure the megatron of pain / With joy, the silent thunder of release, / The ordering of Love. Peace is the atom's start, / The primal image: God within the heart."

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to start reading poetry but is either intimated by the genre, or needs a good place to start. Madeleine L’Engle writes in simplicity yet leaves your heart with profound musings. I found myself stopping with each poem and reading them over and over again. Her topics range from love, to mermaids, to theology, to pain and to new life. This book is one I couldn’t just check out from the library once, but had to own and put on my own shelf to enjoy again and again.

[Sara Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

She has some really good ones tucked between okay poems. She wasn't afraid to write about topics that most Christian writers would shy away from, and for that, I adore her. I might have to copy down my favorite two or three since I have a feeling the book is hard to come by--it was printed before I was born.

[Kelly Walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book. In a few words, L'Engle revolutionizes my take on so many different people and issues. The marriage of her gorgeous expressions and profound yet simple thoughts is beautiful. This book has encouraged me in the living of real life like I haven't been in a long time.

[Levi Pierpont · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything this woman writes is lightning. There are adjectives I could grasp at, to describe the power, the care, the intricacy with which she writes, but I find these all lacking.

Read this. Just take a few days to flip through and ponder on a few. You'll love it.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like having a "car read" during the school year, something I can easily pick up and read for a couple minutes while waiting at school pickup, and this was a perfect match for the end of the school year.

This was a gift from a former supervisor who shared similar reading tastes; she hadn't read this volume but was paring down in advance of another move. This was my first volume of Madeleine L'Engle's poetry. L'Engle covers a range of topics in this slim book: faith, marriage, parenthood, loss, and more.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry by one of my favorite writers! L'Engle's poems are thoughtful, accessible, and well-executed. She writes on a number of themes --some sacred, some relational, and some about common daily experiences. My favorite poems from this collection: "Within this Strange and Quickened Dust" "Word," "Tree at Christmas," "Come, Lord Jesus!," "After the Saturday Liturgy at Montfort," "Testament," and "Sonnet Trinity 18." A satisfying collection of poetry.

[Madeline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh wanted to love. I guess I'd give 2.5 stars if I could but rounding down because I'm too star-happy. The introduction about poetry and prayer was interesting! And I'm sure I'd have enjoyed the poems more if I had more biblical appreciation. Favorites were Ready for Silence; Epithalamion; Body, the Black Horse and the White; To a Long Loved Love: 4; Martha. A lot of the others might have worked for me if she'd stop rhyming...

[F.C. Shultz]

I really enjoyed this collection. It’s clear that L’Engle spent a lot of time reading scripture. I’ll be returning to this one often. Some of my favorites were:

• Within This Strange and Quickened Dust
• To a Long Loved Love: 3
• The Parrot
• Abraham’s Child
• Fire by Fire*

*very much enjoyed this one!

[Abby Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone has altered the script.
My lines have been changed.
The other actors are shifting roles.
They don’t come on when they’re expected to,
and they don’t say the lines I’ve written
and I’m being upstaged.
I thought I was writing this play
with a rather nice role for myself,
small, but juicy
and some excellent lines.
But nobody gives me my cues
and the scenery has been replaced.
I don’t recognize the new sets.
This isn’t the script I was writing.
I don’t understand this plot at all.

To grow up
is to find
the small part you are playing
in this extraordinary drama
written by
somebody else.

[Elisabeth Webber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I happened to find this book in an old church library, and I was curious as to what kind of poetry the author of The Wrinkle in Time would write. It turns out, she writes beautifully rich poetry in a variety of forms. She distills life’s struggles into the absolute essence of the human experience in a theologically profound context. These are poems that I will be coming back to again and again.

[Scott Lamb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read a book of poetry. What an amazing mind. Her turns of phrase are so inspiring and moving. I will cherish this book for the rest of my life and return to it often. I find that she draws me into the eternal in ways that prose just never could. I highly recommend this wonderful book!

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short book of poems (about 90). They clearly reflect the Christian background of the author. As with most poetry, there are some real winners in here. Most of these dealt with poetry around Biblical figures. The poem on communion was also excellent.

[Natalie Wenzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I'd fully finished, I returned to the beginning to reread the richness I'd forgotten. So good, so deeply theological.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were two or three worthwhile poems, and a few fine ideas or phrases within just okay poems, but on the whole a disappointingly underwhelming collection.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply moving poems to be slowly savored

[Nicole Holstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad I read this and there were a couple that really spoke to me. Overall, I prefer L'Engle's prose to get poetry.

[R.A. Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will slay you. Read it.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love poetry and Madeleine, had a beautiful way with words that make her poems seem like prayers. She creates new images in your mind of old stories.
Loved this little book.

[Danielle Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her poems are simply beautiful.

[Anika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. Must love poetry

[Katelynn Baldacchino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this more! Perhaps it will speak more to me at another time. My favorite poem from this volume was After the Saturday Liturgy at Montfort.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about L'Engle. Her YA fiction is phenomenal, and her adult fiction often misses the mark for me, so I went into this volume of poetry with an open mind. It was engaging but not impressive; I took it on a trip and left it on the plane for someone else to have because there wasn't much I would want to go back to. Her explorations of biblical characters are interesting and inventive.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've posted two poems from this book before, here and here. Her spiritual musings are highly intellectual/her intellectual musings are highly spiritual; and she has a naturally lyrical voice.