The White Goddess : A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth by Robert Graves

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Robert Graves, the late British poet and novelist, was also known for his studies of the mythological and psychological sources of poetry. With The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, Graves was able to combine many of his passions into one work. While the book is so poetically written that many of the passages amount to prose poems, it is also frequently plot driven enough to feel like a novel, and it is rich with scholarly insight into the deep wells of poetry. Especially fascinating is the chapter in which Graves explores the ancient and ongoing practice of poets' invoking the muse. Graves details the practice in both the Eastern and Western literary traditions, and shows specific similarities and differences among Greek, British, and Irish tales and myths about the muse. Graves has much to offer students of history and myth, but poetry lovers will also be fascinated with The White Goddess.
Summary
The earliest European deity was the White Goddess of Birth, Love and Death, visibily appearing as the New, Full, and Old Moon, and worshipped under countless titles. In this work, Graves shows that the theme of "true poetry" or "pure poetry"--which has never been satisfactorily defined except in the emotional response it elicits from its readers--is inseparably connected with the ancient cult-ritual of the White Goddess and her Son.

 

 

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