Poems on the Lord's Supper by the Dutch Calvinist Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687)

It is known that the 17th century was a Golden Age for fine art in the Low Countries. The region also produced a number of poets during this period including Dutch Calvinist Constantijn Huygens, a politician, diplomat, musician, and author of many poems. This book presents translations of Huygens' poems on the Lord's Supper.

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This book provides for the first time translations into English of Dutch Calvinist Constantijn Huygens' poems on the Lord's Supper. It is well-known that the seventeenth century was a Golden Age for fine art in the Low Countries. However, it is less well-known that the region also produced a number of fine poets during this period. One such man was Constantijn Huygens, a politician, diplomat, accomplished musician, and author of many poems.In this book, we see Huygens, the life-long Calvinist reflecting in epigrams, sonnets and longer poems on the significance of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. In verses replete with wit and invention, he shows a constant awareness of his own sinfulness, but also of divine grace. He recognizes the importance of the Lord's Supper in recalling the events of Christ's Passion, yet also captures something of the mystical dimension of the sacrament, found elsewhere in the Reformed tradition, in which the soul of the believer is drawn up to heaven and united with the flesh and blood of the risen and ascended Christ. This work will allow readers to draw comparisons with the poetry of English contemporaries such as George Herbert and John Donne.