During his
lifetime, the English Puritan minister and writer John
Bunyan (1628-1688)
wrote some 60 works, mostly collections of his sermons. After the death of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) and the restoration of the Stuart
monarchy in 1660,
Bunyan spent 12 years in prison for refusing to stop preaching.
John Bunyan |
It was
during his imprisonment that he began work on his best-known work, still in
print today, the allegory Pilgrim’s
Progress. The
work wasn’t published until 1978, six years after his release from prison.
Bunyan
also wrote poetry. Specifically, he wrote poetry for children. First published
in 1686, his A Book for Boys and
Girls, or, Country Rhimes for Children
is considered to be the oldest book of poetry for children. In 1724, the work
was renamed Divine
Emblems,
which makes it sound less for children and more for religious adults.
To
continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak
Poetry.
Top illustration: two pages from
the original
Divine Emblems.
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