In 1933, Thomas Merton, then a simple unknown man, travelled and stayed in Rome. He explored various churches and religious institutions including Tre Fontane. The experience and the visit left a deep impact on him. Though he continued in his education at Columbia University.
After about five years, reading about English poet and Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins' conversion to Catholicism and the priesthood, Merton was inspired to pursue his own vocation. He remained at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Bardstown, KY.
Today Merton is known as writer, theologian, mystic, poet and social activist. He published nearly 50 books and several pieces of poetry. His poetry was noted for being long, prosy, and autobiographical. His work shifts between the spiritual and the secular.*
* source - Poets site
Thirty Poems were published in 1944.
Merton's poetry is passionate and dramatic, covering a wide variety of topics. These can be spiritual, mystical, Biblical and everyday, mundane things.
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