• Original research article
  • May 13, 2019
  • Open access

“HEAVENLY BEAUTY OF EARTHLY THINGS”: EDWARD THOMAS AND MYSTICISM OF NATURE

Abstract

The article deals with the study of the works of the British writer of the early XX century Edward Thomas, who paid considerable attention to the themes of nature and its perception by a man in his works. The author shows that Thomas, being far from religiosity, saw the only source of the “transcendent” in nature, although he was sceptical about the received “revelations”. However, he valued mystical attitude to nature in his predecessors’ works and even found something acceptable for contemporary consciousness among the mystic writers of the XVII century. His worldview was expressed most fully in poetry, to which he turned in the last two years of his life.

References

  1. Джеймс У. Многообразие религиозного опыта / пер. с англ. М.: Наука, 1993. 432 с.
  2. Мабиногион: легенды средневекового Уэльса. М.: Аграф, 2002. 416 с.
  3. Bucke R. M. Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind. Philadelphia: E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc., 1901. 384 p.
  4. Herbert G. The Temple & A Priest to the Temple. With an introduction by Edward Thomas. L.: J. M. Dent & Co, 1908. XVII+304 p.
  5. Jefferies R. The Hills and the Vale / with an introduction by E. Thomas. L.: Duckworth & Co., 1909. XXXII+316 p.
  6. Jefferies R. The Story of My Heart: My Autobiography. L.: Longmans; Green and Co., 1922. XIV+210 p.
  7. Keith W. J. The Rural Tradition. Hassocks: The Harvester Press, Ltd., 1975. XIV+312 p.
  8. Kirkham M. The Imagination of Edward Thomas. N. Y.: Cambridge University Press, 2010. XII+225 p.
  9. Longley E. Under the Same Moon: Edward Thomas and the English Lyric. L: Enitharmon Press, 2017. 302 p.
  10. Smith S. Edward Thomas. L.: Faber and Faber, 1986. 222 p.
  11. Thomas E. A Literary Pilgrim in England. N. Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1917. X+330 p.
  12. Thomas E. Cloud Castle and Other Papers / with a foreword of W. H. Hudson. L.: Duckworth & Co, 1922. VIII+200 p.
  13. Thomas E. In Pursuit of Spring. L.: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1914. 301 p.
  14. Thomas E. Light and Twilight. L.: Duckworth & Co., 1911. VIII+192 p.
  15. Thomas E. Maurice Maeterlinck. Second edition. L.: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1911. XIV+334 p.
  16. Thomas E. Richard Jefferies: His Life and Work. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1909. XII+344 p.
  17. Thomas E. The Annotated Collected Poems / ed. by E. Longley. Tarset: Bloodaxe Books, 2013. 332 p.
  18. Thomas E. The Country. L.: B. T. Batsford, 1913. 60 p.
  19. Thomas E. The South Country. L.: J. M. Dent & Co, 1909. XII+280 p.
  20. Thomas R. G. Edward Thomas: A Portrait. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. XII+332 p.
  21. Traherne T. Centuries of Meditations. L.: Bertram Dobell, 1908. XXX+342 p.
  22. Traherne’s Poems of Felicity / ed. by H. I. Bell. L.: Clarendon Press, 1910. XLIV+152 p.

Author information

Elena Viktorovna Talyzina

Samara State Technical University

About this article

Publication history

  • Received: March 4, 2019.
  • Published: May 13, 2019.

Keywords

  • Эдвард Томас
  • английская литература начала XX в
  • литература о природе
  • мистика природы
  • «космическое сознание»
  • Ричард Джеффрис
  • Edward Thomas
  • English literature of the early XX century
  • literature about nature
  • mysticism of nature
  • “cosmic consciousness”
  • Richard Jefferies

Copyright

© 2019 The Author(s)
© 2019 Gramota Publishing, LLC

User license

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)