Faith on the edge of despair: six poems (audio reading)

Christian faith is something more than belief or confidence, and it is probably something less than certainty or an optimism that things will turn out all right. Faith is a particular way of acclimatising oneself to a world marked by futility and despair. Faith knows the joy of the psalms, but it also knows the bitterness of Ecclesiastes. It knows experiences of transcendence, but it also knows that such experiences tend to deceive. To help you ponder this cheerful theme, I've made an audio recording of six short poems by some of my favourite Christian poets:
 
Matthew Arnold, "Dover Beach"
Thomas Merton, "To the Immaculate Virgin, on a Winter Night" 
T. S. Eliot, "A Song for Simeon"
R. S. Thomas, "In Church"
James McAuley, "In a Late Hour"
Kevin Hart, "The Last Day"