Manly, Godly Poesy: Poems of a Roman Catholic Seminarian in English and Latin

Written poetry is a lost art in the popular culture of the twenty-first century, and it is a true loss to that culture. The reason why it has been lost seems to be contributed to rather superficial causes, such as the advent of movies, social media, and other very accessible forms of entertainment. It could have even all moved to music. Is that truly all it is, though?

It must be remembered that this is also the culture that does not push for objective Goodness, objective Truth, and objective Beauty, but rather comfort and ease. To read and understand good poetry takes effort, to write it takes skill and talent, and its topic should be about the noble. There is a much deeper reason for the loss of written poetry in popular culture, as explained in the beginning of this book.

This anthology is written as any real art is: to show forth Goodness, Beauty, Truth, and Order in a manner itself good, beautiful, true, and ordered, yet in their perfection in the Roman Catholic Faith. Virtue, our Lord, the priesthood, the other Mysteries of the Faith, spiritual battle, our Lady, and the saints are the topics of these poems, which have been written in a passionate love for our Lord Jesus Christ and His beautiful Bride, Holy Mother Church. It is an attempt to imitate the great poets who have gone before, such as William Shakespeare, John Donne, and St. Robert Southwell in English, and Virgil, Horace, and St. Ambrose in Latin. Roman Catholics, especially the clergy, have a right and a duty to have a knowledge of their Catholic culture in the vernacular and in their Mother Tongue and extend it, lest Christendom be lost to the pagan heathens who continue to attack Holy Mother Church ceaselessly. Roman Catholic culture did not die out completely after 1962, and it will continue to live, give life, and conquer the world.

The vast majority of poems are in English, with over twenty in Latin with prose English translations.

Included, as well, are two essays: one on the importance of written poetry in culture, and the other on the importance of Latin for the Roman Catholic.