FIFTY TWO SONNETS OF GLORY AND GRACE
By Tom Chapman
Thomas G. Chapman. 134 pages. £9.22
ISBN 978 0 980 748 352
This collection bears witness to the resilience of the sonnet form – long enough to be meaty, short enough to be memorable.
It also illustrates the enduring attraction of the sonnet sequence (and mini-sequences within the main one), where Tom Chapman has many famous predecessors and some contemporary companions. Still more vital is his gracious witness to the Christian gospel and some lifestyle fundamentals, within a sure grasp of this compact metrical shape. Fluent reading is the fruit of prayerful wrestling in writing.
In reliable hands
The sonnet has no single ‘classic’ rhyme-scheme. But we almost always pause for breath after the eighth line, and the final couplet packs a punch. We meet wit and worship, Scripture quotes and questioning, but the key factor is consistency without any hint of mechanical sameness; doctrinally and poetically we are in reliable hands. There are still evangelicals around who recognise true rhyme and disciplined metre!
The absence of cliché or anticlimax helps enormously. I am less convinced by the choice of italic typeface and capitals, but this need not hinder our appreciation. Each sonnet is printed on the right-hand page, with the left occupied by black and white sketches from Richard Lewis and Heather Paterson, cartoon–style but with a serious aim. The author provides a biblical index, and his American missionary-namesake a Foreword.
Here is an excellent bedside or quiet-time companion. Don’t skim through; much better to read one page thoughtfully each day.
