Verses on Various Occasions

This collection gathers the poetry John Henry Newman wrote across his life, from his years as an Anglican clergyman at Oxford through his conversion to Roman Catholicism, brought together in 1868. It includes ‘The Dream of Gerontius,’ his long meditation on a dying man’s soul as it passes through judgment toward Purgatory, later set to music by Edward Elgar, along with the beloved hymn known as ‘Lead, Kindly Light.’ The verses turn again and again to faith, doubt, providence, and the hope of the afterlife, written in a devout and searching voice. Together they trace one of the nineteenth century’s most influential religious minds at prayer. A free PDF and EPUB edition are available to download.