The Marriage of Heaven and Earth: Alchemical Regeneration in the Works of Taylor, Poe, Hawthorne, and Fuller

167 Pages·2000·0.85 MB·English

by  Randall A. Clack

The Marriage of
Heaven and Earth
Frontispiece from Margaret Fuller’s Woman in the Nineteenth
Century(1846).
The Marriage of
Heaven and Earth
Alchemical Regeneration
in the Works of Taylor, Poe,
Hawthorne, and Fuller
RANDALL A. CLACK
Contributionsto the Studyof AmericanLiterature,Number6
GreenwoodPress
Westport,Connecticut • London
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Clack,RandallA.,1958–
Themarriageofheavenandearth : alchemicalregenerationintheworksof
Taylor,Poe,Hawthorne,andFuller / RandallA.Clack.
p. cm.—(ContributionstothestudyofAmericanliterature,ISSN1092–6356 ;
no.6)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0–313–31269–9(alk.paper)
1. Americanliterature—19thcentury—Historyandcriticism. 2. Alchemyin
literature. 3. Taylor,Edward,1642–1729—Criticismandinterpretation. 4. Poe,
EdgarAllan,1809–1849—Criticismandinterpretation. 5. Hawthorne,Nathaniel,
1804–1864—Criticismandinterpretation. 6. Fuller,Margaret,1810–1850—
Criticismandinterpretation. 7. Regenerationinliterature. I. Title. II. Series.
PS217.A43C57 2000
810.9'37—dc21 99–058878
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:2)2000byRandallA.Clack
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:99–058878
ISBN:0–313–31269–9
ISSN:1092–6356
Firstpublishedin2000
GreenwoodPress,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
www.greenwood.com
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
TM
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CopyrightAcknowledgments
The author and publisher gratefully acknowledge permission for use of the following
material:
RandallA.Clack.“‘StrangeAlchemyofBrain’:PoeandAlchemy.”InACompanionto
PoeStudies,ed.EricW.Carlson,367–87.Westport,Conn.:GreenwoodPress(animprint
ofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.,Westport,CT),1996.
RandallA.Clack.“TheAlchemyofLove:Hawthorne’sHermeticAllegoryoftheHeart.”
ESQ:AJournaloftheAmericanRenaissance41(1995):307–38.
RandallA.Clack.“TheTransmutationofSoul:TheOpusAlchymicumCelestialandEd-
ward Taylor’s ‘Meditation 1.8.’” Seventeenth-Century News 50(Spring/Summer1992):
6–10.
JeffreySteele.“Freeingthe‘PrisonedQueen’:TheDevelopmentofMargaretFuller’sPo-
etry.”InStudiesintheAmericanRenaissance,ed.JoelMyerson,137–75.Charlottesville:
UniversityPressofVirginia,1992.
Michael Maier. Atalanta Fugiens: An Edition of the Emblems, Fugues andEpigrams.
TransandEd.JoscelynGodwin.GrandRapids,Mich.:Phanes,1989.

Tothememoryofmyfather,RalphA.Clack,
WilliamT.Booth,andReginaldH.Ward

Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xiii
1. AlchemyinEarlyAmerica 1
2. EdwardTaylorandtheTransmutationofSoul 13
3. AlchemicalSpiritsinEighteenth-CenturyAmerica 41
4. Poe’sAlchemyandtheRegenerationofImagination 49
5. Hawthorne’sAlchemyofLove 83
6. FullerandtheGoldenSeed 113
Epilogue 133
WorksCited 137
Index 149