HD's MYTHOMYSTICAL POETICS by Adriana Cheta Hetram A
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“THE BLACK IMPRINT OF SANDALS IN WHITE MOSAIC FLOORS”: H.D.’S MYTHOMYSTICAL POETICS by Adriana Cheta Hetram A thesis submitted to the Department of English in conformity with the requirements for the degree off Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada August, 2011 Copyright © Adriana Cheta Hetram, 2011 Abstract My dissertation examines the traces of inverse (mytho)mysticism, more synchronous with mythical alchemy than transcendent mystery, in H.D.’s mature work (1946-1961). Whereas H.D.’s earliest works respond to a fin de siècle occultism and a collective psyche troubled by the eschatological distress that, as Susan Acheson writes, “was widespread amongst modernist writers grappling with …world events and with the implications of Nietzsche’s inaugural annunciation of modernity in terms of the death of God” (187), her later oeuvre is dedicated to the same work of soul undertaken by the “secret cult of Night” in Vale Ave. Here, her thematic scope faces two ways: backward to ancient Greek mystery cults and their palingenesic rites and forward to depth psychologists searching for the Soul of the World. Vale Ave plays a pronounced role in my study as symbolic guide; in its seventy- four sequences the layering of time in the “trilogy” of past, present, and future that H.D. had explored during the years of the Second World War in order to get behind the fallen walls of cause and effect collapses into two distinct phases of human origin—“meeting” (evolution) and “parting” (involution)—and the poem invites Lilith and Lucifer to be its archetypal guides. My method for the study is imaginal, entering such disciplines as history, philosophy, and theology and bringing psychological understanding to them. John Walsh’s introduction to Vale Ave notes H.D.’s theme “that the human psyche exists in a dimension outside of time and space as well as within them. In Vale Ave, H.D. presents the extremity of this dual-dimensionality: metempsychosis” (vii). However, the concept that H.D. investigates is more than a literary processus of characters who adopt different masks and appear at various junctures in a chronological unwinding of history. To capture the fluidity of the term “reincarnation” and retain the Greek nuance, I label this genre i “Metempsychography”—the Luciferian act of writing the soul to bring light to its depths— and explore these works as part of a Modernist tradition of writing “books of the dead” designed not to guide the soul after death, but to draw the gaze upon “a nearer thing,” as H.D. writes in Erige Cor Tuum Ad Me In Caelum, the wisdom intrinsic in the spirit of life itself. ii Acknowledgements “A man’s soul is like a lagoon connected with the sea by a submerged channel; although to all outward seeming it is land-locked, nevertheless its water-level rises and falls with the tides of the sea because there is a hidden connection. So it is with human consciousness, there is a subconscious connection between each individual soul and the World-soul deep hidden in the most primitive depths of subconsciousness, and in consequence we share in the rise and fall of the cosmic tides” —Dion Fortune, Mystical Qabbalah I love this quotation from Mystical Qabbalah, which Fortune culls from a poem by John Donne. It never ceases to remind me of the incredible channels of support that have constantly flowed my way during the writing of this dissertation. At times during the writing I did feel as if I were marooned on a lagoon, but I never ever forgot the overwhelming encouragement from those who believed in me at every step of the way with no other agenda than to see me succeed and finish a project that has taught me so much about the value of literature and intricacies of life itself. My parents, first and foremost, who never questioned that I would finish, only when. My father has been a tremendous support to me and has somehow managed to make me bear lightly the immense debt I owe him. My mother’s unconditional love and kindness can never be repaid in full measure, only immeasurably appreciated. From both I have inherited my love for reading and learning and my powers of analysis and there are not enough lifetimes, reams of paper, or words in any language to express and record what my parents mean to me. To Andrew, my dear if somewhat exasperating brother, who I hope will never, ever again ask me what chapter I’m on. (And who, accordingly, will never again have to hear, for the fourth year in a row, “One”). To Dreeni, for amazing pep talks, lots of cousinly love, and “saving me” from attending Teacher’s College. I also would like to thank my stepfather, Ric Wilson, for his support over the years and for his belief in me. My “extended family,” Tony, Roula, and Evan Vekios also mean so much to me and believed in me every step of the way, as well as providing me with a wonderful place to live and do my work on H.D. To the greatest teachers one might ever wish for, not only of the craft of writing and literature, but also of the craft of life. First, Gabrielle McIntyre and Asha Varadharajan who believed in the project when I didn’t, offered invaluable contributions, and were kind even when they should not have been, especially when I was not always considerate of their schedules. Gabrielle and Asha—I consider you my mentors and the finest examples of what professors should be. I would also like to mention Sylvia Söderlind, whom I also cherish as my teacher and friend. The genius of these women astounds and humbles me, and yet iii underscores to me how lucky I have been to work with them over the years. Second, I dedicate this work to Lesley Higgins, my mentor and favourite professor at York U and the reason I even started a PhD, and last but definitely not least, to Nancy Fenn, my own Hermes Psychopompus and metaphysician extraordinaire who gave me courage to finish. I would like to thank—with all the effusiveness of gratitude and the humility of a junior scholar —Julia Vandivere and Cynthia Hogue and Demetres Tryphonopoulous for publishing editions of The Sword Went Out to Sea (2007) and Majic Ring (2009). Up until the publications of these texts I had experienced the well-known inconvenience and—especially in the case of Sword —utter frustration of working from microfilms. My PhD Defense Committee made my defense one of the best experiences of my academic career. Demetres Tryphonopoulos, Asha Varadharajan, Gabrielle McIntire, James Miller, and Sylvia Söderlind—thank you all for your presence and participation in this work and for your guidance. My gratitude and love to all my teachers—some mentioned above but there are many, many more whom I cherish—exceed any expression I make here. May this effort be the beginning of the contributions I make, academically and otherwise, to their legacy. To my 2008 ENGL 201, The Bible and English Literature, for bright and inspired comments about the Bible’s “fraught background” and the general pleasure of allowing me to be part of your learning experience. Much love and gratitude to a very dear “majic ring” of friends: Yashoda Raganathan, Sandy Bugeja, Cheryl Cundell, Hugh Ryan, Eugene Johnston, Deanna Mason, Brandon Alakas. To Tanya, a beautifully spirited PhD candidate in Boston, who has proved to me that Leonard Cohen’s profound words —“there is a crack in everything/ that’s how the light gets in”— holds true even in the darkest times when the walls are seemingly made of iron. IJ, semblable. If semblables truly hold the power of life and death over each other, then I am glad that you are mine. Last, but not least, to H.D. iv Table of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents iv List of Figures and Illustrations v Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: H.D. As Mystical Midrashist 21 Chapter 3: The Erotics of Continuity and the Psychomachia of Discontinuity in 92 The Sword Went Out to Sea, Helen in Egypt, and Vale Ave Chapter 4: “Once Upon a Time”: An Imaginal History for Vale Ave 190 Chapter 5: Hidden in the Attic of the Mind: The Sequences of Vale Ave and the 224 Patronage of Lucifer Chapter 6: The Kingdom Within: H.D. and the Tree of Life 285 Chapter 7: Conclusion: Parting, Again 347 Works Cited and Consulted 353 v List of Figures Figure1 “Villa Verena,” Dr. Rudolph Brunner’s Privat Nervenklinik 99 Figure 2 H.D.’s “Delphian Harlequin” 209 Figure 3 The Painted Lady, “Vanesse des Chardons or La Belle Dame in French,” 276 imaginally-rendered, with Goldwings Figure 4 The Tree of Life and the Cycles of Life 333 vi Chapter One Introduction We followed the Z or the bee-line in its zig-zag track or path across time. Time was conveniently pleated and the pleats lay flat under the chart or map that took us from London to Lausanne, to Lugano, to Knossos, to Athens, to Delphi . .back to London, to Venice . There are to-and-fro journeys and return flights, but this briefly is our path or our zig-zag in space. Time is another matter. But this bee-line or Z-line has this advantage over time, time is neatly folded; the pleats are disproportionate, it is true, but under the Z-map, no-one will notice. It is very easy to understand this, if you like fairy-tales or Märchen.