Every Religion Has Two Faces: Poetic Questionings

The poems in this book explore humankind's relationship with nature, nature's combination of bountifulness and cruelty, and how man resembles and differs from other species. They ponder the tension between faith and doubt, the good and the evil wrought by religion, and the good and the evil in human nature. There are references to the virtues and vices of past and modern figures prominent in government, philosophy and religion and the place of these persons in the pattern of history. Several poems lament human beings' tragic propensity for war and exploitation. Some celebrate and mourn the way in which the scientific revolution has changed how we see and what we feel about the universe. The ambivalences that arise from the contemplation of these topics are more readily conveyed by poetry than by prose.

Henry Summerfield, M.A.(Oxon), M. Litt. (University of Durham) spent the early years of his teaching career at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and the University of Illinois. He then became a member of the English Department at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, where he earned his thirty-five year pin. He is the author of That Myriad-Minded Man: a biography of George William Russell "A.E" 1867-1935 (Colin Smythe, 1975); An Introductory Guide to THE ANATHEMATA and the SLEEPING LORD Sequence of David Jones (Sono Nis Press, 1979); A Guide to the Books of William Blake for Innocent and Experienced Readers (Colin Smythe, 1998) and From Family to Philosophy: Letter-Writers from the Pastons to Elizabeth Barrett Browning (University of Victoria Libraries, 2019). Like this last book, which can be read on the Internet free of charge under the Open Access programme, the poems in this book are the product of Professor Summerfield's retirement. He has a family, including grandchildren, and is an enthusiastic birdwatcher.