 |
 |
Teachers are surely not the source of my "despairing view of Spenser," because I have no teachers, aside from the books I read. Unlike most people on this list, I have not had the privilege of being able to study literature for pay. The "tour" I've taken through literature, philosophy, theology, has been guided solely by my own inclinations and objectives. Nothing is "fatally muddled" in my thought. I thought perhaps it would be acceptable if I asked a few questions and posed a few points to stimulate discussion. When I write something like "Spenser's objective ... cannot have been solely to write a clever, coy, multi-dimensional allegorical political commentary" I am asking the people on this list to tell me how and why that's true. You will note that I often preface statements with conditionals: "If this is true, then..." That's an invitation for you, the experts, who I indeed respect, to comment on the issue. You are the educated ones; I am, as I have said, a "novice." I very much thank Mr. Willett for his commentary on my comments on Spenser. Finally someone did respond to the issues I raised in my first message! As for my "vaguely immense and warming -- if empty" and "meaningless" idea of the artist's mission... Where did I get it? I suppose I created it, or it was created for me... and confirmed by my readings (if, of course, I am reading correctly). People on this list have provided references that will assist my study of Spenser. Following are some references, quotes, and statements that may be of assistance if someone here has unfulfilled curiosity about my vision of art. ----- Ernst Cassirer, works on language, history, science, and art. "Saving the Appearances", and other works by Owen Barfield. C. S. Lewis said that Barfield had read all the right books, but somehow reached the opposite (wrong) conclusions from everyone else. "it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." -- considered from a Buddhist viewpoint The Bhagavad Gita "I began to think of the soul as if it were a castle made of a single diamond or of very clear crystal..." -- Teresa of Avila St. John of the Cross Isaiah, Ezekiel, Gospel and Letters of John Augustine Julian of Norwich, and other Christian mystics Pearl ... "I am one who, when Love inspires me, takes careful note and then, gives form to what he dictates in my heart." -- Dante, Purgatorio, Canto 24 Mozart receiving finished pieces in his imagination and transcribing them onto paper.. Schumann's insanity after the images abandoned him, ceased to be infused into his imagination. The artist as scribe, not "creator". "A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." -- Matthew, 5:14-16 Buddism: the failing of those who seek nirvana for themselves alone, rather than seeking the greater accomplishment of helping all sentient creatures find nirvana If a book is read only by cloistered professors, it is not failure for the artist? How else can we explain Joyce's disappointment at the reception of Finnegans Wake? FW as deconstruction of the universe, so that it can be put back together to form the universal Word, which (the Buddhists and mystics tell us) is silence. Is music meaningless because it a purely symbolic art? Joyce's Sirens episode... Paradise Canto 33: did Dante really see what he describes, or did he just write what the saints/mystics tell him he would have seen? e.g., Aquinas' death after seeing things that made him recognize all of his writings as practically worthless in comparison with the true reality he had witnessed. Dante correctly states that this ultimate reality is beyond words, exists within a wordless, silent, but lighted realm, but did he personally experience it? Blake's "visions" ----- We must not portray you in king's robes, you drifting mist that brought forth the morning. Once again from the old paintboxes we take the same gold for scepter and crown that has disguised you through the ages. Piously we produce our images of you till they stand around you like a thousand walls. And when our hearts would simply open, our fervent hands hide you. -- Rilke, Book of Hours ----- "The Western Canon" -- Harold Bloom "Because you have the cursed jesuit strain in you, only it’s injected the wrong way." -- Joyce, Ulysses "I am not afraid to make a mistake, even a great mistake, a lifelong mistake and perhaps as long as eternity too." -- Joyce, Portrait ----- Silence Is Your Name Silence is your name, Silence the name you gave me; But bless this broken totem (Round which ragged worlds have gathered), For I am a fallen man, My 'I' a fallen world. O sweet silent wonder, Let words gather and be still As hushed they once whirled in awe Round their living sun, and breathe Into me your whispering dew: Make me, dear Lord, anew! -- Kevin Farnham (1979?) ------ Now I will be silent and leave you in peace. Kevin Farnham