Early poetry 1908-1920

Mystical compositions of the self

“…57 The attempt to use language so transparently that it is no longer a veil of mediation speaks to the Image's "quasi-mystical significance." 58 Although they proceed differently, both mystic writers and Imagist poets aim to wield language so it somehow enacts or embodies experience and allows the reader access to it. 59 In such endeavors, the artist or mystic becomes the mediator between the reader and whatever experiences the writing attempts to present.…”

“…57 Ioldana's sword, invested with a "strange savage life of its own," simultaneously represents the fluid, potent power of ancient Ireland and the advent of the new god. The likening of divine advent to the slashing of a sword alludes to Jesus' words, "I come not to bring peace, but a sword," 58 an enigmatic statement for one who also identified himself as a peacemaker. The sword, however, indicates that he will be a divisive 57 ---, "The Triumph of Maeve."…”

“…In response, Dyer issued the "crawling order" that forced Indians to crawl on hands and knees at the site of the beating. 58 Though the novel offers no specific details of what Peter saw in India, he seems to detest the possibility of his own complicity with imperial assumptions of superiority and to mask it with his judgments of others. Through him, the colonized space of India is a constant disturbance for Clarissa, who more clearly becomes a figure of the imperial center.…”

“…143. 58 Philippa Levine, The British Empire: Sunrise to Sunset (Harlow, England: Pearson Longman, 2007). 174-175.…”

“…57 Butts also describes the countryside as jade, a color which indicates the verdant green of the natural surroundings and simultaneously signals the exotic origins of the imported stone. 58 Her figurative language relies on orientalist perceptions of "Chinese" as "ancient and magical" in order to suggest that Ashe, the house, its contents, and the land on which it crouches might have magical properties: their exotic exteriors must indicate their interior magical essences.…”