Raymond Roseliep (August 11, 1917 – December 6, 1983) was a poet and contemporary master of the
English haiku and a
Catholic priest
The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...
. He has been described as "the
John Donne of Western haiku."
Brooks Books Mini-chapbooks
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Early life
Born on August 11, 1917, in Farley, Iowa
Farley is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Dubuque, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,766 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 1,334 in 2000. Farley is the seventh-largest town in Dubuqu ...
, to John Albert Roseliep (1874-1939) and Anna Elizabeth Anderson (1884-1967). In 1939 he graduated from Loras College
Loras College is a private Catholic college in Dubuque, Iowa. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,600 students and is the oldest post-secondary institution in the state of Iowa. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degree ...
with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
, in 1948 he received a Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...
in English from Catholic University of America, and in 1954 he received a Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in English Literature from Notre Dame University
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
. He was ordained, June 12, 1943, at St. Raphael’s Cathedral, Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...
.
Poetry
He won the Haiku Society of America
The Haiku Society of America is a non-profit organization composed of haiku poets, editors, critics, publishers and enthusiasts that promotes the composition and appreciation of haiku in English. Founded in 1968, it is the largest society dedicat ...
Harold G. Henderson award in 1977 and 1982. In 1981, Roseliep's haiku sequence, “The Morning Glory”, appeared on over two thousand buses in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
:
takes in
the world
from the heart out
funnels
our day
into itself
closes
on its own
inner light
Bibliography
* ''The Linen Bands'' - 1961
* ''The Small Rain'' - 1963
* ''Love Makes the Air Light'' - 1965
* ''Flute Over Walden'' - 1976
* ''Walk in Love'' - 1976
* ''Light Footsteps'' - 1976
* ''A Beautiful Woman Moves with Grace'' - 1976
* ''Sun in His Belly'' - 1977
* ''Step on the Rain'' - 1977
* ''Wake to the Bell'' - 1977
* ''A Day in the Life of Sobi-Shi'' - 1978
* ''Sailing Bones'' - 1978
* ''Sky in My Legs'' - 1979
* ''Firefly in My Eyecup'' - 1979
* ''The Still Point – Haiku of Mu'' - 1979
* ''Listen to Light'' - 1980
* ''Swish of a Cow Tail'' - 1982
* ''Rabbit in the Moon'', Alembic Press (November 1983)
* ''The Earth We Swing On'' - 1984
See also
* Elizabeth Searle Lamb
References
* David Dayton, ed. (1980) ''A Roseliep Retrospective: Poems & Other Words By & About Raymond Roseliep''. Ithaca, New York: Alembic Press
External links
Selected Roseliep haiku
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roseliep, Raymond
English-language haiku poets
People from Dubuque County, Iowa
Poets from Iowa
Roman Catholic writers
Catholic poets
Loras College alumni
Catholic University of America alumni
University of Notre Dame alumni
1917 births
1983 deaths
20th-century American poets
Writers from Dubuque, Iowa
Catholics from Iowa
20th-century American Roman Catholic priests