Poems, Prayers & Promises

{{Short description|1971 album by John Denver}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Poems, Prayers & Promises

| type = studio

| artist = John Denver

| cover = Poems, Prayers and Promises.jpg

| alt =

| released = April 6, 1971

| recorded = 1970–1971

| venue =

| studio = RCA, New York City

| genre = Country folk{{cite book|last= Okamoto|first= David|chapter= John Denver |editor-last= Knopper|editor-first=Steve|date=January 1, 1998|title=MusicHound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide|publisher=Visible Ink Press|location=Detroit|pages= 132–133}}

| length = 37:57

| label = RCA Victor

| producer = {{hlist|Milton Okun|Susan Ruskin}}

| prev_title = Whose Garden Was This

| prev_year = 1970

| next_title = Aerie

| next_year = 1971

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Poems, Prayers & Promises

| type = Studio

| single1 = Take Me Home, Country Roads

| single1date = April 12, 1971

| single2 = Sunshine on My Shoulders

| single2date = October 22, 1973

}}

}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web |title=AllMusic Review by Sharon Mawer |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/poems-prayers-promises-mw0000194983 |website=AllMusic |access-date=2 April 2021}}

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev2Score = C{{Cite web|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=6695|title=Robert Christgau: Album: John Denver: Poems, Prayers and Promises|website=www.robertchristgau.com}}

|rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

|rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=2 |page=855}}

|rev4 = MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide

|rev4score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=329}}

|rev5 = The New Rolling Stone Record Guide

|rev5score = {{rating|2|5}}{{cite book |title=The New Rolling Stone Record Guide |date=1983 |publisher=Random House |page=136}}

}}

Poems, Prayers & Promises is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter John Denver, released on April 6, 1971 by RCA Records. The album was recorded in New York City, and produced by Milton Okun and Susan Ruskin.

Poems, Prayers & Promises was Denver's commercial breakthrough, and contains several of his most popular songs, such as "Poems, Prayers, and Promises", "My Sweet Lady", "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado", "Sunshine on My Shoulders", and "Take Me Home, Country Roads", which would become one of Denver's signature songs. "The Box", which concludes the album, is a poem by Kendrew Lascelles illustrating the futility of war.

The album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/john-denver/chart-history/tlp/|title=John Denver|magazine=Billboard}}