Book of Mercy
Book of Mercy is a poetry book by Canadian author, poet and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, published by McClelland and Stewart, and repackaged in March 2010. Its original publication was in 1984. Book of Mercy is considered a companion volume to Cohen's poetry collection, Book of Longing (published in 2006).[1] The book is often referred to as a book of contemporary psalms. The poems are numbered rather than titled. Book of Mercy contains fifty poems. The topics are often spiritual or religious in nature.
According to Penguin Random House, "the poems in Book of Mercy brim with praise, despair, anger, doubt and trust. Speaking from the heart of the modern world, yet in tones that resonate with an older devotional tradition, these verses give voice to our deepest, most powerful intuitions."[2] Cohen uses both traditional and modern forms of writing.
In the year of the book's original publication, in an interview with Robert Sward, Cohen called it "a secret book for me...a little book of prayer that is only valuable to someone who needs it at the time. It isn't aimed in the same way that a song is aimed."[3]
"It was written during an intense moment of reassessment of his life and art and remains his sole effort to publish a book of psalms. Book of Mercy allows us to witness the struggle of a soul engaged in what Cohen described as 'a sacred kind of conversation.' The reputation of this meditative collection has grown steadily, and the book is now widely considered one of the finest compilations of confession and spiritual longing ever written."[4]
Book of Mercy is said to have inspired the production of Cohen's studio album Various Positions.[4]
References
- ^ Cohen, Leonard (1984). Book of Mercy. Vancouver: McClelland and Stewart.
- ^ Book of Mercy by Leonard Cohen | PenguinRandomHouse.com.
- ^ "Leonard Cohen, a conversation with Robert Sward". www.leonardcohenfiles.com. 1984. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
- ^ a b "Leonard Cohen's Language of Symbolism: The Book of Mercy, Various Positions, And The Unified Heart - Cohencentric: Leonard Cohen Considered". Cohencentric: Leonard Cohen Considered. 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2018-05-28.[permanent dead link]
- v
- t
- e
- Discography
- Awards
- Songs of Leonard Cohen
- Songs from a Room
- Songs of Love and Hate
- New Skin for the Old Ceremony
- Death of a Ladies' Man
- Recent Songs
- Various Positions
- I'm Your Man
- The Future
- Ten New Songs
- Dear Heather
- Old Ideas
- Popular Problems
- You Want It Darker
- Thanks for the Dance
- Live Songs
- Cohen Live
- Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979
- Live in London
- Live at the Isle of Wight 1970
- Songs from the Road
- Live in Dublin
- Can't Forget: A Souvenir of the Grand Tour
- The Best of Leonard Cohen
- So Long, Marianne
- More Best of Leonard Cohen
- The Essential Leonard Cohen
- Famous Blue Raincoat
- I'm Your Fan
- Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen
- Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man
- Judy Collins Sings Leonard Cohen: Democracy
- The Songs of Leonard Cohen Covered
- "Ain't No Cure for Love"
- "Avalanche"
- "Bird on the Wire"
- "Dance Me to the End of Love"
- "Everybody Knows"
- "Famous Blue Raincoat"
- "First We Take Manhattan"
- "The Gypsy's Wife"
- "Hallelujah"
- "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye"
- "I'm Your Man"
- "In My Secret Life"
- "Joan of Arc"
- "The Partisan"
- "So Long, Marianne"
- "Suzanne"
- "Take This Waltz"
- "Tower of Song"
- "You Want It Darker"
- Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Leonard Cohen
- Angel
- Beware of a Holy Whore
- Bird on a Wire
- I Am a Hotel
- Night Magic
- Looking for Leonard
- Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man
- Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen
- Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love
- Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song
- So Long, Marianne
- Bob Johnston
- Marianne Ihlen
- Sharon Robinson
- Jennifer Warnes
- Perla Batalla
- Julie Christensen
- Anjani: Blue Alert
- Alan Light: The Holy or the Broken
Category