A Christian Poet?

I found "Works of Love" to be a refreshingly easy read compared to some of Kierkegaard's other works. And, I found it interesting that Kierkegaard wrote pages and pages of text on one sentence of scripture, certainly putting forth a model for literary, and poetical analysis (even if he be a bit wordy at times).

One thing that really stood out to me was Kierkegaard's analysis of the poet's portrayal of love, versus the Christian idea of love. And this difference is easy enough to understand. The poetical focuses on love that only benefits one's self, and that has the potential to change; whereas the christian love emphasizes a love that is self-denying and eternal. And naturally, Kierkegaard makes the conclusion that this Christian idea of eternal, unchanging love is better - "Christianity certainly knows far better than any poet what love is and what it means to love."

However, his statement makes me wonder if the poetical is in itself anti-christian. Can there be a christian poet? Is there is anything within, or to the purpose of the poetical that is in line with the christian view of love? Or, in other words, is there a poetical component to the eternal, neighborly love of which we "shall" partake?

What about passion? Can it exist in a purely christian sense of love? Or is passion something independent of the choice of love, just an emotion such as anger, happiness, etc.? Have we sinfully put too much emphasis on the role of passion in true, christian love?

I commented on Susan's "Thoughts on Love"