His Holiness Pope Shenouda III speaks about his poetic beginnings since secondary school, where he wrote simple zajal and poems beloved by people that relied on an easy meter and words close to the heart.

Poetic beginnings and their characteristics:
His poetry at first was light-hearted and sometimes humorous, choosing easy words and a pleasant melody that students could easily memorize, with a tendency toward jest and cheer despite his personal shyness.

The shift during university study:
With his entry to the Faculty of Arts and then the Clerical College, his poetry inclined toward a religious and spiritual character, and he began to publish his poems in Sunday Schools magazine and addressed themes of faith, monasticism, and human hopes and their ends.

Editorial service and publication:
He participated in the magazine’s editorial family and assumed its editorship for periods; he explained magazine covers with enlightening and contemplative verses, and published literary articles and prose that showed his ability to write beyond poetry as well.

Poetry in monastic life:
After monasticism, poetry took on a spiritual and mystical tone, expressing solitude and life in the wilderness, and he composed representational poems like the story of Adam and Eve, and also poems such as “Traveler” and “Whisper of Love” written during periods of seclusion.

Hymns and added chants:
He composed a troparion or hymn about Saint Anthony the Great that was added to the hymn book, which shows his use of poetry in worship, praise and church chants.

Continuity of the gift and its message:
The Pope asserts that his poetic experience is a continuous journey, from youthful amusement to spiritual service, and that when a gift is surrendered to God it becomes a means of evangelism, teaching and building a life of prayer and seclusion.

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