The Ecstatic Poetic Tradition

This work is not only a general inquiry into ecstatic states of consciousness and an historical outline of the ecstatic poetic tradition but also an intensive study of five representative poets—Rumi, Wordsworth, Whitman, Dickinson, and Tagore. In a refreshingly original, wide-ranging engagement with concepts in psychology, religion, philosophy, aesthetics, sociology and history, this book demonstrates that the poetics and aesthetics of ecstasy represent an ancient, ubiquitous theory of poetry that continues to influence writers in the current century.

Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

D.J. Moores is an associate professor of literature at National University in San Diego, California.

D.J. Moores

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 264
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7816-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1473-1
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
Part One: Ecstatic Beginnings
1. The Overture 3
2. Ecstatic States of Consciousness 14
Part Two: Historical Outline
3. The Ancient Poetics and Aesthetics of Ecstasy 29
4. Autochthonous, Non-Western and Modern Ecstatic Poetry 55
Part Three: Critical Studies
5. The Whirling Dervish: Rumi 68
6. The Power of Imagination: William Wordsworth 87
7. The Body Ecstatic: Walt Whitman 104
8. The Cracked Mind: Emily Dickinson 131
9. The Wise Man of the East: Rabindranath Tagore 147
Part Four: Critical Implications
10. Extra-literary Implications 167
11. Literary Implications: A Problematic Rapture 194
12. Ecstasy and the Eudaimonic Turn 214
Chapter Notes 221
Bibliography 235
Index 245