The British Shire

Tales of Mystical Poets : II

 

 

 

The British poets of the 18th century had the most profound effect on my young mind in the 60s. I didn't realize until later that they were referred to as ' mystical.' In reflecting upon my experiences with English poetry, I found that I had gained more than I realized.

 

The Indian, Oriental and Sufi poets brought much to my imaginative sense as a young man, of worlds that are possible. But the English poets went a step further. They brought me to combine the physical reality of the world we live in today with our dreams of possible worlds. It helped me to come to terms with reality in ways that included a rhyme, a tune and an incisive insight into the nature of the human condition.

 

They made me realize that it wasn't foolish to fall in love ( Sonnet 18 ) or that it was naive to die for a cause ( The Charge of the Light Brigade ). Instead they implied that to have loved and lost was better than not to have loved at all.

 

From Shakespeare I learnt about the play, drama and communication of the subtle and delicate. It helped me to see the great play in my own life. But the one that I kept the most contact with was William Blake. Before Carl Jung made the ' Red Book ' scientifically fashionable, it was Blake who saw the possiblities of a marriage between heaven and hell and helped me deal with the awesome sense of mind that I was growing into.

 

We are what we are for the blessings we have received. When possible we give some of it back, for I have become as the lamb today who will sleep with the lion.