READ THE COMPLETE STORY OF JESUS OF NAZARETH'S BIRTH AND HIS ANOINTING BY JOHN THE BAPTIST
THIS NEW ENGLISH VERSE TRANSLATION BY CONTEMPORARY POET EDOUARD d'ARAILLE ('Adapa's Ascent', 'The Fallen', 'Words Can't Hold...') IS BASED ENTIRELY UPON THE NEW TESTAMENT GOSPELS OF MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE & JOHN
The 28 poetic chapters of BIRTH OF JESUS are extracted from 'BOOK OF JESUS: A Unified Gospel in English Verse' (2024) composed by Edouard d'Araille.
BOOK OF JESUS is what is conventionally referred to as a 'Gospel Harmony', for it aims to harmonize all the elements of the four gospels in a single poetized version of the original Greek New Testament texts.
Based on fresh research and analysis of the source texts, this new verse translation of the gospels takes into account every single sentence of the four canonical gospels, channeling all their incidents and language into a unified poetic work.
In BOOK OF JESUS, from which the current work is taken, all the episodes and events of the gospels are presented in a series of 285 distinct chapters, of which Edouard d'Araille writes: "The objective has been to take into account all the words of all the four gospels - not to ignore any lexical elements in the sources whatsoever."
The main 22 chapters of BIRTH OF JESUS form a chronological sequence, commencing with priest Zechariah learning that his wife Elizabeth (who has been barren) will give birth to a boy to be called 'John'. We learn of the betrothal between Joseph of Nazareth and Mary, then how she witnesses the visitation of an angel telling her how special her baby, Jesus, shall be. We learn of Joseph having dreams of what he and his wife are to do, and how the events taking place are the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy.
The continuous sequence then presents us with the meeting between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth (now also expecting) who realizes that Mary's baby will be important to the whole world. We read how Zechariah is affected by the birth of his own son, John - naming him thus in spite of no ancestors bearing that name.
In what is perhaps the most familiar sequence of events in the 'Nativity', we read how Joseph and Mary attend a Roman census in Bethlehem, resulting in Mary's son Jesus being born there, how shepherds pay homage to the infant Jesus and how three Magi from the Orient seek to meet him and pay tribute. We read of King Herod, who seeks only to destroy Jesus, and massacres all new-born boys in Bethlehem to try and do that.
Finally, we read of how baby Jesus is cleansed and blessed in Jerusalem, along with his parents. We meet Simeon, an ageing priest, who was told he would see the future salvation of his nation before he died, and a prophetess, named Anna, who meets Jesus and predicts great things of him. The manner in which Joseph and Mary flee with Jesus to Egypt is then related, plus their return to Nazareth as a family.
After the 22 Chapters on the Birth of Jesus, a sequence of 4 chapters under the heading 'The Anointed One' is presented. We learn of John the Baptist, his anointing of Jesus and how John's disciples started to follow Jesus when he began teaching.
BIRTH OF JESUS concludes with a bonus extract from Vol.1 of BOOK OF JESUS: "You Are the Light of the World " is a perfect example of how inspiring Jesus of Nazareth's words can be: "Whoever hath ears to hear me -- let them hear and understand! "
The poetic text is accompanied by 15 exceptional B&W engravings by the renowned French artist Gustave Doré.
- Limited Edition Special Release #1 -
The authors of the four New Testament Gospels cannot be conclusively verified and virtually nothing is known about them. They have been traditionally named as 'Matthew', 'Mark', 'Luke' and 'John', though we do not know for sure that these were the authors' actual names. 'Matthew', 'Mark' and 'Luke' are called the "synoptic evangelists" as they share a large amount of material in common, though at the same time they each contribute their own individual material to their gospels. 'John' is more unique as an author as his account of Jesus's life does not share any source material in common with the other three evangelists, even though the same essential sequence of episodes in Jesus's life is presented in his gospel, including his anointing by John the Baptist, ministry in Israel and events leading to crucifixion by his own people. As far as dating of the canon Gospels is concerned, Mark's Gospel is reputed to have been written circa 70 ACE, Matthew's Gospel is generally agreed as having been written in the last quarter of the 1st Century ACE, Luke's Gospel is considered to have been created in the region of 80-90 ACE, while John's Gospel has been dated between 90-110 ACE, thus being the last of the New Testament Gospels in order of composition.
Contemporary English language poet Edouard d'Araille, born in 1974, released his first volume 'In a Short Space of Time: A Verse Cycle' in 1999. His début collection was followed by seventeen other full-length publications over the subsequent quarter century. Edouard d'Araille's poetic style varies noticeably between his works, though it is fundamentally unified in the use of concise verses, straightforwardly engaging vocabulary and an energetic playfulness of verbal structures. One of Edouard d'Araille's most noteworthy recent works is 'Adapa's Ascent' (2020), a translation of the Adapa legend from Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform tablets into modern English verse, which includes his essay 'The Birth of Fiction'. Edouard d'Araille has previously translated work from French (Alain Robbe-Grillet) and German (Stefan Zweig), while 'Book of Jesus' (2024) is wholly based on the Koine Greek texts of the four New Testament evangelists. For those new to the writings of Edouard d'Araille, the volume 'Je Suis Poëte' (2021) - now available in a newly revised edition - provides a retrospective overview of 25 years of poetry, featuring core extracts from most of his full-length publications. Before embarking on a career in poetry, Edouard d'Araille directed the feature-length documentary 'Last Year at Marianské Lazné' [aka 'Hotel Marienbad'] (1998) about the literary and cinematic fiction of Alain Robbe-Grillet, a series of experimental short films entitled 'Déja Vu' (1999) as well as music videos for Irish singer-songwriter Johnny Cronin. He was screenwriter for the Arts Council film 'Subtitled', by Greek filmmaker Anastassios Kavassis, and is the screenwriter of forthcoming feature film 'Crime Trap' (2026). He lives in the English market town of Wem.
Gustave Doré, born in Strasbourg, France on 6th January 1832, was a French printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is renowned for a prolific artistic output of wood-engravings illustrating classic literature, including the 'Bible de Tours', Dante's 'Divine Comedy' and 'Don Quixote' by Cervantes. He achieved worldwide fame on the basis of his vast output and, even though he did not attain unanimous critical acclaim during his lifetime, he was one of the most famous French artists of the 19th Century. 'Book of Jesus' (Volume I) includes the reproduction of 30 black-and-white engravings by Doré taken from his illustrated version of the Vulgate Bible, mostly from the New Testament portion. In fact, Doré's illustrations of the Bible were so welcomed that a major exhibition of his work was given in London in 1867 and the 'Doré Gallery' was opened on Bond Street shortly thereafter. Other works illustrated by him include Coleridge's 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner', Tennyson's 'Idylls of the King' and Milton's 'Paradise Lost'. After the death of his father, Doré carried on living with his mother till he died of a heart attack at the age of 51 on 23rd January 1883. At that time, he was working on a new illustrated version of Shakespeare's plays. Gustave Doré was an accomplished watercolor painter and sculptor.
