Brandon Nelson

The poetry of Charles Péguy (1873-1914) emerges from a world then deeply embedded in supernatural realities and the hidden activities of grace. France was, excepting a brief period during the First Republic, a country steeped in Catholicism. Nevertheless, Monsieur Péguy’s poems lack any trace of the “other-worldliness” that frequently characterizes religious poetry. For, though he enters unabashedly into the mysteries of providence and the longings of God’s own heart, he proceeds by means of the most ordinary experiences of human life, yielding insights that are all the more accessible, and striking, for having been drawn from familiar images.

Speaking with what might be characterized as a populist piety, his universal appeal has made him one of France’s best-loved poets; as a true “adventurer of the spirit,” Péguy has also helped caused a gentle but unmistakable shift in twentieth-century Catholic thought, leaving a legacy that continues in such poets and theologians as Claudel, Bernanos, Marcel, Guardini, de Lubac, and Balthasar.

In perhaps his most celebrated poetry collection, The Portal of the Mystery of Hope, Péguy offers a comprehensive theology ordered around the often-neglected second theological virtue in popular Catholicism, incarnated in his image of the “little girl Hope.” Her playful confidence and unshakeable joy — even within the dark mystery of human suffering — are described in the simple language and light humor that characterize Péguy’s unconventional style, and are carried in the prayerful rhythm of the ancient litanies. It is my hope, as the composer, that I have been able to turn these shades of feeling and piety and rhythmic subtlety into the world of sounds.

This piece was presented by Drew Hosler, the commissioning patron, in a live-streamed virtual recital/Q&A on June 2, 2025 at 7pm EST.