Poetry · A way to begin
Book of Lamentations
Մատեան ողբերգութեան
Gregory of Narek · 1002
Synopsis
Ninety-five prayers, almost all titled “Speaking with God from the depths of the heart”. The poet confesses his faults and those of all of Adam's descendants, measures his unworthiness before divine holiness and the desire to be perfect that he knows to be impossible, then entrusts himself to a grace that makes up for what he cannot merit.
Context
Completed around 1002, shortly before its author's death, the book recounts nothing: a single voice accuses itself, corrects itself and searches for words, forging those that classical Armenian lacked. It enjoyed a rare circulation for a learned work, kept in homes under the sole name of Narek and read at the bedside of the sick as a book of healing. Copied by hand for more than six centuries, it was first printed in full in Marseille in 1673.
Who it is for
Dense religious poetry, to be read in short sections rather than straight through. No knowledge of theology is required: the movement is that of a lament.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the best-loved work of Armenian literature, whose popular fervour is said to yield only to that of the Bible.