Durham E-Theses Mysticism in the poetry of Kathleen Raine. El-Shaer, Mohamed Sharaf How to cite: El-Shaer, Mohamed Sharaf (1987) Mysticism in the poetry of Kathleen Raine., Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1687/ Use policy Thefull-textmaybeusedand/orreproduced,andgiventothirdpartiesinanyformatormedium,withoutpriorpermissionor charge,forpersonalresearchorstudy,educational,ornot-for-pro(cid:28)tpurposesprovidedthat: • afullbibliographicreferenceismadetotheoriginalsource • alinkismadetothemetadatarecordinDurhamE-Theses • thefull-textisnotchangedinanyway Thefull-textmustnotbesoldinanyformatormediumwithouttheformalpermissionofthecopyrightholders. PleaseconsultthefullDurhamE-Thesespolicyforfurtherdetails. AcademicSupportO(cid:30)ce,DurhamUniversity,UniversityO(cid:30)ce,OldElvet,DurhamDH13HP e-mail: [email protected]: +4401913346107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk MYSTICISM IN THE POETRY OF KATHLEEN RAINE by Mohan,ed Sharaf EI-Shaer The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Thesis subntted to the Faculty of Arts, Department of English, for the degee of Doctor of Philosophy Wversity of Durham .tne 1987 S 23. ABST RACT A consideration of mysticisn in the rrajor religious traditions leads to the vieN that its universal core is the pursuit of union with the divine through love. This core is distinguished fro-n non-mystical vision. Kathleen Raine has had a great deal of genuinely mystical experience asell as non-rr'stical visions, and is best classified as a visionary-mystic poet. The root of her poetry lies in her rn,'stical experience, interpreted in the light of three interrelated factors, first her religious and spiritual develop-rent frcrnan early Methodist upbringing through her brief conversion to Catholicia-n to her final Neoplatoni-n, secondly her intellectual develop-rent through her artistic interests and scientific training to knowledge absolute, and thirdly her Platonic e-rotional develop-rent frcrn physical love to the n-arriage of minds and ultirrately to a Plot inian n-arriage of souls. Her rrature poetic theory is firmly Platonic and inspirational, based on a non-sectarian spiritual vision of in-ag i nat i ye arche types. DEDICATION To the memory of my father, to my mother. and to Egypt, The Land of love, by me adored, That ne'er will die or grow old. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to Mr. Peter Maleiriri, whose contributions to this thesis are far beyond my humble words of gratitude. His discussion, his remarks, his patience and continual encouragement throughout the preparation o± the thesis have been most fruitful. Thanks are also due to Dr. Kathleen Paine, who kiT1ly gave ire much of her time in answering many very important questions, both personally and 1y correspondence. Her generosity in sending ire the whole bu1J of her unpullished poems and periniting me to use them was most helpful. I am also most indebted to the Egyptian Missions Lpartment in Cairo and the Egyptian Education Bureau in London for their financial support, help and care from the very begi iing of my scholarship and during my stay in the United Kingdom. I wish also to thank the staff of the University of Durham Computer Centre for their help, especially Harry Baker, Angela Snosdon and Gerry Orr. My thanks are due to the staff of the Main Library of the University of Durham, especially Margaret Lawton and those concerned with Inter Library Loan, Gwynneth Thomas and Anne Billen. I am also grateful to Susan 1'IcBreen in the Library of the School of Oriental Studies. Lest but not least, w gratitude is also due to my wife whose loving care and patience provided me with magnificent peace of mind, and to my little angel, my daughter Ghadeer, who has been most unfortunate in being born during her parents' preparation of their theses, and has therefore suffered, and lacked the adepiate parental care she was supposed to have at her age. My gratitude to her for the wonderful patience she has shown is fortified by a sincere promise to make up for what she has lacked in the very near future. -1- CONTENTS Acknowtdgements..................i ................ List of Appreviations iii Introduction...................v Cli a Pt e r One. MYSTICISM: UN1VEBAL PZtENONENON .....1 1.1 Christian Mystics and the Fire of Love ......2 1.2 Divine Love and its Martyrs in Sufism ......23 1.3 The Doctrine of Bhakti in Hinduism ........42 1.4 Plotinian Flight of the Alone to the Alone . . . 51 1.5 Nature Mysticism ............57 1.6 Mystical Reality in the Union of Love ......62 Chap t e r 1o. 4SSESSNENT OF RAINE' S VISIONS IN THE LIGHT OF MYSTICAL CHARACTERISTICS . . . . 78 2.1 Kathleen Raine: a Polemical Issue 79 2.2 The Hyacinth: the Cardinal Vision 84 2.3 The Hollyhochs and the Phenomena of Light 92 2.4 A Realization of Tao 104 2.5 A Jungian Analysis 113 2.6 The Epiphany of the Tree 119 2.7 Towards Settlement and Precaution 127 Ch apt e r Th r e e. MYSTICAL DIMENSIONS AND SPIRITTJAL DEVELOPMENT AS MANIFESTED IN RAfl'IE' S POET1Z . . . 139 3.1 A Message from Eternity ...........140 3.2 Give me to a God, or I will die .........151 3.3 Poetical Approach to the Concept of Light .....191 3.4 Poetical Approach to the Realization of the Tao 209 Ch a Pt e r Four. LOVE: TEE SON OF P(JVERZY AND POSSESSION . . 220 4.1 A Profile of Eros ..............221 4.2 AVariety of Lose F\perlence ..........228 4.3 Ven the Sky Pours the Erotic Trance ......243 4.4 Grown from One Root ..............256 4.5 Love: the Creator ..............271 4.6 Outside Love's Sanctuary ............283 Ch apt e r F i v e. THE GRANDEUR OF THE IMAGINATION .... . 297 5.1 Dreams as Living Reality ............298 5.2 Imagination: Ancient and Contemporary ......309 5.3 Poetic Theory .................328 Conclusion....................336 Appendices...................348 Bibliography..................429 -11- LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 1) WORKS OF AUThORS C1I'IIER THAN KATHLEEN PAINE CPWB ... Wi lii am Blake, The Complete Poetry aixl Prose of, William Blake (Revised Edition), ed. by David V. Erdman, Anchor Books, New York, 1982. DNMT ... Dionysius, the Areopagite, On the Divine Nairs arxi Mystical Theology, trans. by C.E. Rolt, S.P.C.K., London, 1920. EN Plotinus, Enneads, trans. by Stephen Mackenna, Charles T. Branford Company, Boston, Massachusette, 1916. FL Richard Rolle, The Fire of Love, trans. by Clifton Wolters, Penguin Books, 1972. Ann ema r i e Sc h inme 1, Mystical Dirrnsions of Islam, The University of North Carolina Press, 1975. C. G. Jung et al, Man aml His Symbols, Aldus Books Ltd., London, 1964. W. T. Stace, Mysticism arxl Philosophy, Macmi 1 lan & Co., Ltd., London, 1961. MWB Helen C. \Miite, The Mysticism of William Blake, The University Wisconsin Studies in Language and Literature, Madison, 1927. RPM Jalalul-Din Rumi, Rumi, Poet azx Mystic, selected, trans., and ed. by Reynold A. Nicholson, George Allen &Unwin Ltd., London, 1950. SEM W. Ralph Inge, Studies of English Mystics, John Murray, London, 1906. Tao Tao Te Chirzg, trans. by Chu Ta-Kao, Mandala Books London, 1985. UM Ri chard Woods, ed. Urerstairig Mysticism, The Athione Press, London, 1981. V1E W. I arne s, The Varieties of Religious E2cperiezres, Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1902. -ill- 2) KADILEEN PAINE' S WORKS CPa The Collected Poems of Kathleen Raiz1e, Hami s h Hamilton Ltd., London, 1956. CPb Collected Poems: 1935-1980, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London, Boston and Sydney, 1981. DAS Eeferding Amzient Springs, The Oxford University Press, 1967. DS On a Eserted Shore, The Dolmen Press, Dublin; ilamish Hamilton Ltd., London, 1973. FDN Faces of 2y and Night, En i t harmon Pr e s s, London, 1972. FEIF Farewell Happy Fields, Hamish Hamilton Ltd., London, 1973. The Hollow Hill and Other Poems l0-64, Hami s h Hamilton Ltd., London, 1965. IJP The Inner Journey of the Poet arid Other Pa.r.ers, George Allen &Unwin, London, 1982. LC Lost Country, The Do imen Press, Dub I in; Hami sh Hamilton Ltd., London, 1971. LT Living in Tiii: Poems 1941-45, Ed i t i on s Poetry London, Nicholson and Watson, London, 1946. The Lion's Mouth, Flamish Hamilton Ltd., London, 1977. Iv The Land Unknown, Hamish Hamilton Ltd., London, 1975. OH The Oracle in the Heart and Other Poems 1975-78, The Dolmen Press, Dublin; George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London, 1980. OP The Oval Portrait and Other Poems, En i tha rmon Press, ilamish Hamilton Ltd., 1977. SF Stone arid Flower: Poems 1935-194.3, Nicholson and 'Watson, London, 1943. TP The Pybho.ness and Other Poems, Hami s h Hami 1 ton Ltd., London, 1949. Yo The Year One, Hamish Hamilton Ltd., London, 1952. -iv- INTRODUCTION .s......*..s.sse....I.S.e.s.e.. • . . . • something is or seems, That touches me with mystic gleams, Like glimpses of forgotten dreams - Of something felt, like something here; Of something done, I know not where; Such as no language may declare. (Tennyson, "The Two Voices") "My Heart is capable of every form; A cloister for the monk, a fane for idols, A pasture for gazelles, the votary's Ka'ba. The tables of Torah, the Quran. Love is the creed I hold; wherever turn His camels, Love is still my creed and faith." (Ibn aTArabi, Nafh Ut Tib) "The mystical life is the centre of all that I do and aU that I think and all that I write." (W.B. Yeats, Letters) A mystical approach to the poetry of Kathleen Raine presents a dual problem: a) mysticism as a subject of no fixed definition, 1) Kathleen Raine has herself become something of a polemical issue. As regards mysticism, though it strikes its roots deep in the history of mankind, it has never been an established academic subject. The definition of the term has been liable to various and clashing formulations. The mystical field has been explored, sometimes invaded and victimized, by many branches of knowledge (e.g. theology, philosophy, psychology, literature, metaphysics, anthropology and the like). Apart from the differences between these disciplines, even within a specific discipline the term still lacks a generally agreed definition that can be used in approaching literary works. Ivloreover, the term has been severely attacked by many unsympathetic and ironic disbelievers in the existence of a spiritual order. Some accuse mystical experience and. mystics of extreme subjectivity and mere emotionalism, of neurotic disorders, of depraved or perverted sexuality, of melancholy, of paranoia, of devil-worship, of practising black magic, and so on. Agnes Arber remarks the enormous degradation of the word "mystioism' in general usage, and how to many people it "suggests charlatanism or disordered mentality".(l) I1ysticisin also suffers from some mystics' misrepresentations o± their experiences, and. from the sectarian and emotional non-objectivity of some religiously fanatical mystics. 1- Agnes Arber, The Manifold and the One, John Murray, London, 1957, p. 14. -vi-