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The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth (FSG Classics)
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About The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar Of Poetic
Product Description The definitive edition of one of the more extraordinary and influential books of our timeThis labyrinthine and extraordinary book, first published more than sixty years ago, was the outcome of Robert Graves's vast reading and curious research into strange territories of folklore, mythology, religion, and magic. Erudite and impassioned, it is a scholar-poet's quest for the meaning of European myths, a polemic about the relations between man and woman, and also an intensely personal document in which Graves explores the sources of his own inspiration and, as he believed, all true poetry. Incorporating all of Graves's final revisions, his replies to two of the original reviewers, and an essay describing the months of illumination in which The White Goddess was written, this is the definitive edition of one of the most influential books of our time. About the Author Robert Graves (1895-1985), born in London, was one of the most talented, colorful, and prolific men of letters in the twentieth century. He is best known for his historical novels, I, Claudius and Claudius the God. He spent much of his life on the island of Majorca. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The White Goddess A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth By Robert Graves Farrar, Straus and Giroux Copyright © 1997 The Trustees of the Robert Graves Trust All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-374-28933-1 Contents Title Page, Copyright Notice, Editorial Introduction, 'In Dedication', Foreword, I. Poets and Gleemen, II. The Battle of the Trees, III. Dog, Roebuck and Lapwing, IV. The White Goddess, V. Gwion's Riddle, VI. A Visit to Spiral Castle, VII. Gwion's Riddle Solved, VIII. Hercules on the Lotus, IX. Gwion's Heresy, X. The Tree Alphabet (1), XI. The Tree Alphabet (2), XII. The Song of Amergin, XIII. Palamedes and the Cranes, XIV. The Roebuck in the Thicket, XV. The Seven Pillars, XVI. The Holy Unspeakable Name of God, XVII. The Lion with the Steady Hand, XVIII. The Bull-footed God, XIX. The Number of the Beast, XX. A Conversation at Paphos – 43 AD, XXI. The Waters of Styx, XXII. The Triple Muse, XXIII. Fabulous Beasts, XXIV. The Single Poetic Theme, XXV. War in Heaven, XXVI. Return of the Goddess, XXVII. Postscript 1960, Notes, Appendix A: Two Letters to the Press, Appendix B: The White Goddess: A Talk, Index, Also by Robert Graves, Copyright, CHAPTER 1 POETS AND GLEEMEN Since the age of fifteen poetry has been my ruling passion and I have never intentionally undertaken any task or formed any relationship that seemed inconsistent with poetic principles; which has sometimes won me the reputation of an eccentric. Prose has been my livelihood, but I have used it as a means of sharpening my sense of the altogether different nature of poetry, and the themes that I choose are always linked in my mind with outstanding poetic problems. At the age of sixty-five I am still amused at the paradox of poetry's obstinate continuance in the present phase of civilization. Though recognized as a learned profession it is the only one for the study of which no academies are open and in which there is no yardstick, however crude, by which technical proficiency is considered measurable. 'Poets are born, not made.' The deduction that one is expected to draw from this is that the nature of poetry is too mysterious to bear examination: is, indeed, a greater mystery even than royalty, since kings can be made as well as born and the quoted utterances of a dead king carry little weight either in the pulpit or the public bar. The paradox can be explained by the great official prestige that still somehow clings to the name of poet, as it does to the name of king, and by the feeling that poetry, since it defies scientific analysis, must be rooted in some sort of magic, and that magic is disreputable. European poetic lore is, indeed, ultimately based on magical principles, the rudiments of which formed a close religious secret for centuries
