Description
Cardinal John Henry Newman’s renowned poem describes the death of an old man and the journey of his soul to the judgment seat of God. First published in 1865, it quickly became a best-seller in its field, second only in popularity to Tennyson’s In Memoriam. William Gladstone described The Dream of Gerontius as ‘the most remarkable production since Dante’s Paradiso and Purgatorio’. General Gordon took inspiration from the poem in his last moments at Khartoum. In an insightful preface, Father Benedict Groeschel CFR explains the relevance of the work for today. Also included are a section on Sir Edward Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, an adaptation of Newman’s poem which rapidly became the most popular choral work in Britain after Handel’s Messiah, and a discography of currently available recordings of Elgar’s Dream.
