Saturday, 21 January 2023

An Oratorian Man

John Henry Newman: A Biography
Ian Ker
Oxford University Press
2019


"Poetry then is our mysticism..."
(Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman)

Preface and Acknowledgements

While Wilfrid Ward’s work 
has achieved classic status, 
Trevor’s work has not.  
The latter hardly purports 
to be the standard study.  

1. Oxford

1.1 Certainty
"I know I am right"
he said when he asked himself
"How do you know it?"
The basis of his Grammar
is basic: "I know I know."

1.2 Failure
Under-the-line in
Classics, and off of the page
in Mathematics.
This is the end of being
left to his own devices.

1.3 Inoculation
The words "for ever"
seemed so terrible to his
new pastoral sense. 
The sick inoculated
him from this initial sinn.