Book Description

Mary Dyer's Hymn and other Quaker Poems constructs poetic songs which open-up multiple dimensions of an embodied sensibility of the conflicts between Puritans and Quakers in 17th century Massachusetts. There are a number of themes as presented in these poems, including: - Many of the poems sing about how in 17th century Massachusetts, the embodied soul matters in Quaker writing, action and thinking. - Some of the poems enter into a visionary consciousness of 17th century Quaker men and one Quaker woman (Mary Dyer) who demonstrate what it meant to be a prophet and then a martyr as well. - At times, the poems present a satirical critique of key Puritan assumptions about how they thought that Quakers were dangerous heretics, aligned with Satanic impulses and thought that Quakers were possessed by error and sin. - Some of the poems illustrate how many of the Quaker prophets felt the immediate presence of the Divine or God through the experience of the indwelling Christ. - A few of the poems explore the imaginative, visionary relevance my 9th great-grandfather, a contemporary figure and his friend Roger Williams, both dissidents and founders of Rhode Island. - The poems offer visionary, expressive and expansive language drawn from the types and shadows of Old Testament prophets. - The poems illustrate the importance of Roger Williams and his vigorous dissent from the Puritan orthodoxy and his sympathy for the Narragansett native people. Early Praise: "Stanford Searl at his strongest, blending the themes of space, place, and memory, with the theme of Mary Dyer's martyrdom, part of his faith heritage. This is a collection that for all the Quaker silent prayer is musical and melodic." Ben Pink Dandelion, Professor of Quaker Studies, Woodbrooke "The compelling narrative contained in this delicate collection leaves me buoyed up and inspired by the joy and certitude to which these early Friends gave witness. I am already in Paradise." Deborah L. Shaw, Recorded Minister, Director Emeritus: Guilford College's Quaker Leadership Scholars Program "Are we willing, like Dyer, Leddra, Stephenson, and Robinson, to face the ultimate sacrifice for a good greater than ourselves? Or are we fated, as poet James Russell Lowell once penned, to see Truth forever on the scaffold, / Wrong forever on the throne? Searl not only asks the important question; he provides inspiring words for those who would learn from history." Max L. Carter, William R. Rogers Director of Friends Center and Quaker Studies at Guilford College (emeritus)