meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Thomistic Institute

Only the Lover Sings: Poetry, Mimesis, and the Christian Life | Prof. Patrick Callahan

The Thomistic Institute

The Thomistic Institute

Christianity, Society & Culture, Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Catholic, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Thomism, Catholicism

4.8729 Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Prof. Patrick Callahan reveals how poetry, as the most Christ-like form of speech and a reflection of human mimesis, plays a vital role in the Christian life by fostering conformity to Christ and deepening the contemplative experience.


This lecture was given on October 26th, 2024, at Dominican House of Studies.


For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.


About the Speaker:


Prof. Patrick Callahan is director of the Newman Institute for Catholic Thought & Culture as well as Assistant Professor of English and Humanities at St. Gregory the Great Seminary. There he directs and teaches in a Great Books Catholic program for students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and other regional colleges. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Dallas and his graduate work at Fordham University in Classics. He lives in Lincoln, NE with his wife and 5 children.


Keywords: Aristotelianism, Christian Life, Contemplation, Joseph Pieper, Mimesis, Poetry, Saint Augustine, Spiritual Formation, Only the Lover Sings, W. H. Auden

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome to the Timistic Institute podcast.

0:06.2

Our mission is to promote the Catholic intellectual tradition in the university, the church, and the wider public square.

0:12.7

The lectures on this podcast are organized by university students at Temistic Institute chapters around the world.

0:19.3

To learn more and to attend these events, visit us at

0:22.5

to mystic institute.org. So our topic this morning is the role of poetry in the Christian life.

0:32.3

This talk, such as it is, arose about four years ago from my dissatisfaction that Joseph Peepers,

0:41.2

only the lover, sings.

0:43.0

So, and again, this is a fantastic little book, find it.

0:46.1

It'll take you all of like an afternoon, right, to read it.

0:51.5

Actually, less than that.

0:52.4

You can see how small it is. This book, which is

0:56.7

supposedly on the ways in which art, music, and the visual and the plastic arts are other

1:05.4

avenues in addition to philosophy and religious contemplation towards the contemplative life,

1:10.4

this book only covers

1:11.6

music and the visual arts. And so I had a bit of dissatisfaction when reading it because

1:16.0

you promised me something and then we didn't deliver, right? Which again is, I don't know,

1:20.7

I feel like maybe that's unfair. But to cut to the chase, my thesis this morning is going to be

1:26.6

twofold. First, poetry thesis this morning is going to be twofold.

1:36.1

First, poetry as measured word is the mode of speech most Christ-like, the eternal logos.

1:42.9

Second, because of the memetic nature of the human person, poetry plays a central role,

1:46.9

both historically in the work of salvation and personally in the conformity of the human person to Jesus Christ.

1:53.1

So before we sort of run rampant into the deep weeds of philosophy and all the prose of whatever I have to say, I wanted to just give you a taste

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 12 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Thomistic Institute, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Thomistic Institute and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.