The Voluble Soul

The Voluble Soul PDF Author: Richard Willmott
Publisher: Lutterworth Press
ISBN: 0718848292
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Get Book

Book Description
The "metaphysical" poetry of Thomas Traherne (1636-1674) is less well known than that of his predecessors, John Donne and George Herbert, and can seem daunting both to the student of English, uncertain about his theological ideas, and to the student of theology, put off by seventeenth-century poetic conventions and diction. This book looks at Traherne's verse in its poetic context. Taught from an early age at school to translate Latin and Greek poetry into their own verses, people in many walks of life in the seventeenth century frequently turned to verse to express their own strongest feelings or to put their ideas in a nutshell, thus providing an ideal context in which to get to grips with the poetic expression of Traherne's thought. To be voluble is not only to be fluently expressive, but also have the 'capacity' to comprehend (both understand and include) all of God's creation. Traherne's understanding of the soul and its 'capacity' will be explained. Traherne's delighted comprehension takes in the latest scientific speculation about the atom and astronomy, and also the fascinating details revealed by the microscope, but does not exclude a clear-sighted view of Restoration society's materialism and - in one startlingly savage satire - the corruption of the royal court.

The Voluble Soul

The Voluble Soul PDF Author: Richard Willmott
Publisher: Lutterworth Press
ISBN: 0718848292
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Get Book

Book Description
The "metaphysical" poetry of Thomas Traherne (1636-1674) is less well known than that of his predecessors, John Donne and George Herbert, and can seem daunting both to the student of English, uncertain about his theological ideas, and to the student of theology, put off by seventeenth-century poetic conventions and diction. This book looks at Traherne's verse in its poetic context. Taught from an early age at school to translate Latin and Greek poetry into their own verses, people in many walks of life in the seventeenth century frequently turned to verse to express their own strongest feelings or to put their ideas in a nutshell, thus providing an ideal context in which to get to grips with the poetic expression of Traherne's thought. To be voluble is not only to be fluently expressive, but also have the 'capacity' to comprehend (both understand and include) all of God's creation. Traherne's understanding of the soul and its 'capacity' will be explained. Traherne's delighted comprehension takes in the latest scientific speculation about the atom and astronomy, and also the fascinating details revealed by the microscope, but does not exclude a clear-sighted view of Restoration society's materialism and - in one startlingly savage satire - the corruption of the royal court.

The Voluble Soul

The Voluble Soul PDF Author: Richard Willmott
Publisher: Lutterworth Press
ISBN: 0718848306
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Get Book

Book Description
"The world's fair beauty set my soul on fire." In this first study of the full range of Traherne's poetry Richard Willmott explains his 'metaphysical' poetry to all who are attracted by the beauty of his language, but puzzled by his meaning. He offers guidance both for the student of English, uncertain about Traherne's theological ideas, and the student of theology, put off by seventeenth-century poetic conventions and diction. Using a wealth of quotation, he examines Traherne's verse alongside that of a variety of his contemporaries, including Andrew Marvell, Lucy Hutchinson, Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor. Central to Traherne's poetry and generous theology is his delight in the capacity of his soul to approach God through an appreciation of His infinite creation. This soul is 'voluble', not only because it can express its thoughts with fluency, but also because it can enfold within itself the infinity of God's creation, taking in everything that it perceives, considering the latest scientific speculations about the atom and astronomy, but also looking clear-sightedly at Restoration society's materialism and - in one startlingly savage satire - the corruption of the royal court.

The Intelligible Ode

The Intelligible Ode PDF Author: Graham Davidson
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 0718896432
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 283

Get Book

Book Description
From its first publication, what is now known as the Immortality Ode has been praised for the magnificence of its verse and disparaged for its paucity of meaning - the ‘immortality’ of the subtitle unsubstantiated, and the ‘recollections’ insubstantial. Yet Wordsworth’s idea of immortality has clear precedents in the seventeenth century, and recollections of childhood are Traherne’s starting point for the recovery of a lost vision comparable to Wordsworth’s. Via the power of the imagination, or reason, they believed they could experience a renewed vision that both termed variously Paradise, or infinity, or immortality. Graham Davidson traces the origins of Wordsworth’s poetic impetus to his resistance to the Cartesian division between mind and nature, first adumbrated by the Cambridge Platonists. If reunited, Paradise was regained, but this personal trajectory was tempered by a deep sympathy for the woes of mortal life. Davidson explores the consequent dialogue through some of Wordsworth’s best-known poems, at the heart of which is the Ode. In the last section, he demonstrates how Wordsworth’s publishing history led the Victorians and modernists to misinterpret his work; if one considers Eliot’s Four Quartets as odes, facing several of the same problems as did Wordsworth, there is some irony in Eliot’s dismissal of the Immortality Ode as ‘verbiage’.

The Soul in Suffering

The Soul in Suffering PDF Author: Robert Sproul Carroll
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Conduct of life
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Get Book

Book Description


The Methodist new connexion magazine and evangelical repository

The Methodist new connexion magazine and evangelical repository PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 920

Get Book

Book Description


The Orphans of Unwalden, Or, The Soul's Transfusion

The Orphans of Unwalden, Or, The Soul's Transfusion PDF Author: William Godwin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 436

Get Book

Book Description


The Living Age

The Living Age PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 846

Get Book

Book Description


The Complete Writings of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: The Divine comedy of Dante Alighieri

The Complete Writings of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: The Divine comedy of Dante Alighieri PDF Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 520

Get Book

Book Description


The Divine comedy of Dante Alighieri

The Divine comedy of Dante Alighieri PDF Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : American literature
Languages : en
Pages : 518

Get Book

Book Description


The Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy PDF Author: Dante Alighieri
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 780

Get Book

Book Description