mysticism in the poetry of kathleen raine

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Mysticism in the poetry of Kathleen Raine.
El-Shaer, Mohamed Sharaf
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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
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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-