Romanticism and the Androgynous SublimeThis book studies and articulates the emergence from the poetical subtext of six major English romantics of "the androgynous sublime", a mode that conflates the motif of psychic androgyny (traceable as far back as the Book of Genesis and Plato's Symposium) with the mode of sublimity, first discussed by Longinus and much debated from the eighteenth century onward. Frequently echoed by the romantic poets, Milton's description of the Holy Spirit's role in the creation of the world is androgynous. Since humane creativity mirrors divine creativity, it follows that the artist qua artist muct also be androgynous - that is, endowed with what Lyrical Ballads, calls "a more comprehensive soul" than is "supposed to be common among mankind". Characterized by a flexuous, limber style and an association with androgynous subject matter, the androgynous sublime subverts conventional notions of sublimity while offering a more comprehensive model with which to supplement, of non supplant, them. The methodology of this study is to present a "counter-deconstructive" reading of the text and, where applicable, designs of Blake, as well as the poetry of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats, seen from this somewhat novel but not ignoble perspective. |
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Page 15
... males were descended from the sun , the fe- males from the earth , and the bisexual billiard balls ( as we may well call the last group ) from the moon , alleged to contain both sun and earth . Proud of their wholeness , these ovoid ...
... males were descended from the sun , the fe- males from the earth , and the bisexual billiard balls ( as we may well call the last group ) from the moon , alleged to contain both sun and earth . Proud of their wholeness , these ovoid ...
Page 16
... male and female created he them " — as implying the androgynous nature of God and of human perfection before the Fall . [ I.e. , if God made humans in his own image , and there is only one God , then that makes God an androgyne . ] From ...
... male and female created he them " — as implying the androgynous nature of God and of human perfection before the Fall . [ I.e. , if God made humans in his own image , and there is only one God , then that makes God an androgyne . ] From ...
Page 17
... male and female characteristics , he becomes an androgynous God . This idea too influenced the En- glish romantics . In his aforementioned book Thomas Weiskel , using Freudian psychology as a convenient metaphor for ontology — in other ...
... male and female characteristics , he becomes an androgynous God . This idea too influenced the En- glish romantics . In his aforementioned book Thomas Weiskel , using Freudian psychology as a convenient metaphor for ontology — in other ...
Page 23
... male , female , or androgynous . Usually interpreted as the bridegroom from the Song of Solo- mon , 1 Spring has " dewy locks , " " angel eyes , " " holy feet " —a self- reflexive punning reference to the poem's daring prosody ? — " per ...
... male , female , or androgynous . Usually interpreted as the bridegroom from the Song of Solo- mon , 1 Spring has " dewy locks , " " angel eyes , " " holy feet " —a self- reflexive punning reference to the poem's daring prosody ? — " per ...
Page 24
... male , speaker to his " black eyed maid " merely tend to confirm this impression . It is also worth noting that the most memorable character in " An Imitation of Spenser " —a poem not notable for its sublimity , but of technical ...
... male , speaker to his " black eyed maid " merely tend to confirm this impression . It is also worth noting that the most memorable character in " An Imitation of Spenser " —a poem not notable for its sublimity , but of technical ...
Contents
13 | |
23 | |
27 | |
From Misogyny to Renewed Androgyny | 29 |
Theology versus Androgyny | 31 |
The Androgynous Sublime | 35 |
Wordsworth and the Patriarchal Sublime | 49 |
The Aqueous and Admonitory Sublime | 50 |
Manfred as Destroyer and Preserver | 92 |
Androgynous Sublimity in Don Juan | 95 |
Shelleys Androgynous Quest | 101 |
Shelleys intensest rime | 109 |
The Sublime Androgyny of Adonais | 113 |
Keatss Immortal Androgyny | 116 |
False versus Sublime Androgyny | 127 |
Conclusion | 129 |
Apocalypse and the Death of Dad | 57 |
From Darkness to Light | 62 |
Coleridge From the Analogical to the Androgynous Sublime | 67 |
Coleridges Androgynous Sublime | 73 |
Byrons Sublime Androgyny | 86 |
Notes | 133 |
Glossary | 143 |
Works Cited | 144 |
Index | 149 |
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Common terms and phrases
Albion androgy androgynous sublime apocalyptic Apollo aqueous and admonitory aspect beautiful becomes Blake's Boehme Byron called canto Christabel Coleridge Coleridge's concept contrast creation darkness daughter death divine Don Juan Dorothy Dorothy Wordsworth drogynous earth emanation emphasis added English romantic Enitharmon Erdman eternal female feminine Four Zoas Golden Age Haidée heaven hermaphrodite human imagery insofar Jerusalem John Keats Keats Keats's Kubla Khan latter Lauberhorn lines London Longinus Los's lover Luvah male Manfred masculine Milton moon nature Northrop Frye Ololon once Oothoon ovoid Oxford University Press oxymoron Palamabron Paradise passage patriarchal phallic plate Plato's Plotinus poem poem's poet portrayal portrayed psychic Rahab reference remarks reminded romantic poetry Romanticism seems seen sexual Shelley Shelley's song sonnet soul Spectre Spirit stanza Studies Sublime Androgyny symbol Thel theme thou Tyger unconscious mind Urizen Urthona Vala Virgin vision voice Weiskel William Blake Witch of Atlas Wolfson word Wordsworth York
Popular passages
Page 115 - The breath whose might I have invoked in song Descends on me; my spirit's bark is driven, Far from the shore, far from the trembling throng Whose sails were never to the tempest given; The massy earth and sphered skies are riven! I am borne darkly, fearfully, afar; Whilst burning through the inmost veil of Heaven, The soul of Adonais, like a star, Beacons from the abode where the Eternal are.
Page 59 - The immeasurable height Of woods decaying, never to be decayed, . The stationary blasts of waterfalls, And in the narrow rent at every turn Winds thwarting winds, bewildered and forlorn, The torrents shooting from the clear blue sky, The rocks that muttered close upon our ears, Black drizzling crags that spake by the wayside As if a voice were in them, the sick sight And giddy prospect of the raving stream...
Page 16 - So God created man in his own image ; — male and female created he them.
Page 52 - It is a beauteous evening, calm and free, The holy time is quiet as a Nun Breathless with adoration; the broad sun Is sinking down in its tranquillity; The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea: Listen!
Page 16 - Aonian mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme. And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer Before all temples the upright heart and pure, Instruct me, for thou know'st; thou from the first Wast present, and, with mighty wings outspread, Dove-like, sat'st brooding on the vast abyss, And mad'st it pregnant...
Page 80 - O Lady ! we receive but what we give, And in our life alone does Nature live : Ours is her wedding garment, ours her shroud...
Page 58 - The invisible world, doth greatness make abode, There harbours ; whether we be young or old, Our destiny, our being's heart and home, Is with infinitude, and only there ; With hope it is, hope that can never die. Effort, and expectation, and desire, And something evermore about to be.
Page 114 - It is a dying lamp, a falling shower, A breaking billow; - even whilst we speak Is it not broken? On the withering flower The killing sun smiles brightly: on a cheek The life can burn in blood, even while the heart may break.
Page 92 - When he gave to the sea his decree that the waters should not pass his commandment. When he appointed the foundations of the earth., then I was by him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men.