Thomas Taherne

There's a superb new introduction to the Seventeenth Century English poet and priest Thomas Taherne by Denise Inge.

Among other gems two so far stand out from Thomas's mix of theology and poetry:

Heaven surely is a State and not a Place
To be in Heaven's to be full of Grace
Heaven is wherere we see Gods face.
(All Things, 9, p. 79)

and also his agument for why there must be life on other worlds:

The Earth is too poor a Cottage, too small a centre, to be the Single and Solitary object of his [God's] care and Love. For him that is Omnipresent and Eternal, to confine his Contentments to one little Spot, and leav all the Rest Empty and Desolate is unworthy of his Majestie and not very answerable to his Infinit Greatness.
(The Kingdom of God, ch. 22, p. 76-7)

There's a shorter version of Inge's introduction here.