To Henry Rago, poet and De Paul alumnus

"Laughter and books and wine are holy things; and living is good; and death is a breathlessness with the whole adventure of finding everywhere the traces of one great beauty..."

                ~Henry Rago, "Plea for Uncommon Sense," De Paulia (February 4, 1937) 2.


Dear Henry Rago,

I met you in 1936.  (You never met me.)  It was when you began that column for the De Paul University newspaper, and-- well, your words leapt out of that blurry microfilm image and gleamed. Just gleamed! I began to look forward to finding your column, again and again; I even fancied that I could discern your cadence in unsigned editorials. Later, in the files of Chicago Inter-Student Catholic Action, I found a short play that you'd written in 1940-- a clever anti-war skit that made me laugh out loud--as well as a few poems, all of which strengthened an impression I'd already received: that, if I'd been at De Paul in 1936-37, I'd have been, well, intrigued. 

But from a distance.  While you described yourself as "timid," you seemed popular and involved in everything-- from CISCA to newspaper to drama to Homecoming and intramural sports-- so no, I would never have braved the writerly crowd surrounding your booth at Pixley's or the Roma! And if I had, could I have joined your banter on the Mystical Body implications of a cheeseburger. . . ?

Researching a (21st-century) dissertation on collegiate Catholic Action, however, I took the liberty of citing your poems and newspaper columns as illustrations of a developing liturgical/social justice culture among Depression-era Catholic youth.  (I hope that you don't mind.)

Looking further, I'm thrilled to find that--no shock!-- you'd indeed become a renowned poet, theology professor, and editor of the well-known literary journal Poetry. Today you have your own web tribute, one much more fitting than any I could construct... since, after all, I only watched you from afar in your student days, at De Paul in 1936.

PS:  While I'd love to share a poem or two that I found in the files of CISCA, I'm concerned about copyright issues-- so instead I'll link to your wonderful "Sonnet for God," which Poetry published in 1934.