A Study of David Jones's the Anathemata
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The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Liturgy, Imagination and Poetic Language: a study of David Jones's The Anathemata Richard St.John Jeremy Marsh Thesis Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Durham School of English 1991 1 8 AUG 1992 Liturgy, Imagination and Poetic Language: a study of David Tones's The Anathemata Richard St.John Jeremy Marsh Abstract The thesis seeks to attempt an examination of David Jones's long poem The Anathemata primarily from a theologically informed standpoint. It sets out to understand,from the literary-critical point of view, the forces and influences that have come together in order to make the poem. At the same time, it is aware of and tries to explore the theological, liturgical and mythological material which provides Jones with both the background to and the content of his poem. It is argued that the form of poem, its linguistic content and the experience of reading it, are best understood in terms of pilgrimage and that such a metaphor is best suited to encompass both its huge scale and its attention to detail. From an overall examination of the available secondary literature, the thesis proceeds examine something of the experience of reading the poem, whether or not the poem can be conveniently understood as an epic and what Jones himself thought he was doing, at the same time his own theoretical stance is illuminated by reference to other contemporary thinkers. An extensive examination of the terms 'myth' and 'anamnesis' and the backgrounds and links between the two both in general and within the context of the poem precede chapters which explore the language of the poem both in terms of stylistic features and also in terms of the literary sources on which Jones draws and which make up the intertexual space within which the poem exists. These matters are further examined in a discussion of the most significant themes with which the poet works in the course of The Anathemata . Finally, some account is given of the formal shape of the poem before a 'commentary' or 'paraphrase' of the poem draws out, in context, the significant features. Table of Contents Declaration i Statement of Copyright i Acknowledgements Introduction & Presuppositions , 1 Chapter 1 Critical Comment on The Anathemata 9 Chapter 2 What kind of poem? The Literary Experience of The Anathemata 28 The Epic 28 The Preface to the Poem 31 The Influence of Eliot 37 Chapter 3 Myths, and Liturgical Anarnnesis 41 Myth 41 Myth and Imagination 45 Myth, Language and the Ritual Community 46 Myth,Art Poetry 48 Liturgy and Anamnesis 57 Liturgy and Worship 58 Myth and Liturgy 60 The Mass and Anamnesis 61 Liturgy and Sign-Making 66 The Mass, the myth of History and the Present 71 Liturgy and Intertextuality 76 Chapter 4 Language - The Material of the Poem 79 Varieties of Language and Tone 80 Ancient and Modern Language - The Evocation of the Past 88 Lines and Rhythms 93 Chapter 5 Sources of Style - Influences on the Language 104 The Bible 105 Sea-Shanties 113 Folk-Song 114 Nursery-Rhymes 117 Homer and Virgil The Classical World 121 The Matter of Britain 128 The Medieval World 132 Shakespeare and Milton 141 Romanticism and Modernism 145 Chapter 6 Some Themes in the Poem 157 Mary - the feminine principal 157 Sea - Voyages 167 The Cities of The Anathemata 181 Stone &Wood 193 Stone 194 Trees 198 Wasteland 204 Chapter 7 The Commentary .216 The Shape of the Poem , .216 RITE AND FORE-TIME 219 MIDDLE-SEA AND LEAR-SEA 234 ANGLE-LAND 241 REDREFF 242 THE LADY OF THE POOL 243 KEEL, RAM, STAUROS .253 MABINOG'S LITURGY 258 SHERTH'URSDAYE AND VENUS DAY 270 The Conclusion 279 Bibliography 284 Declaration None of the material contained in this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree in this or any other university. Statement of Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Acknowledgements Many people have been generous both in their advice and encouragement in the production of this thesis. I would like first to thank Professor J.R.Watson who has selflessly supervised my work and Dr. Gareth Reeves who acted as my supervisor when Professor Watson was on research leave. I would also like to thank the Master and Governing Body of University College, Durham for appointing me Solway Fellow and Chaplain and thereby giving me the time and opportunity to tackle this work. My father, Mr. G.V Marsh has been instrumental throughout this project, I am very grateful for his encouragement and assistance. Mr. Francis Pritchard helped invaluably with the final stages of preparation. Thanks also to my wife, Elizabeth who was always there, even when she had her own thesis to write. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the influence of three men who, each in their own way have inspired and encouraged me: The Rev'd Tony Cross, the Rev'd Canon Dr. Geoffrey Rowell and Fr. Benedict Greene C.R. To each of these I owe much and without their influence, this thesis would not have been written. Introduction St Presuppositions For anyone trained in an historical-theological way of working, the experience of encountering a poet such as David -Jones and a poem like The Anathemata is at once both a terrifying and a liberating experience. It is terrifying, because in order to read his work creatively, it is necessary to dispense with many presuppositions about a methodology of simple straightforward deductive reasoning. It is liberating because the poet introduces theological concepts by means of unusual modes of manipulation of ideas and different, though by no means less precise, uses of language. Theologians often claim that the truths of faith are by their nature 'poetic', that language either metonymic or metaphorical is somehow a better means of expressing the Divine or even, somehow, has some innate kinship or affinity with it, than the logical language of deductive reasoning. They would argue that metaphorical language, the language used primarily by poets, is necessary for the meaningful expression of religious conceptgthat it is the form of language which best does justice to their distinctive and often fragile nature. One suspects somehow that, although there is much truth in their claim, they are doing a disservice to poets - and an even greater one to whatever might or might not be poetic language. And a disservice is also being done to religious truth in that it may, thereby, be relegated to a suspect, or inferior position relative to other kinds of truths. David Jones was both a poet and a graphic artist. His published written output was modest, spanning the years between 1937 and his death in 1974. A Christian in what has subsequently come to be known as a traditionalist Roman Catholic mould, his convert's fervour was tempered by his creativity. His poetry is religious, Christian certainly, on two counts: 1 first, his reliance on and engagement with the cultural heritage of Western European Christianity, especially its Roman and Celtic forms, as the basic material for his poetry; and second, the ideas which lie close to the heart of his work are either explicitly religious or have immense implications for those who would think about God. David Jones was not a theologian or a priest - and if there is theology in his poetry, it is not there as an organised system, easy to isolate, to appropriate and to submit to critical study. However, it may be contended that there is a deep underlying consistency which makes it possible to speak of David Jones's theology. It is a theology which is present in fragments and in the obscurity of taut and difficult language. It is a theology which is hidden, arcane and wrapped in codes; a theology above all which is about the communication of a sense of the mystery of God and his engagement with the world. It is the sort of theology and thinking about God that poetry is best able to express. Although the theology which may be found in David Jones's poetry is eccentric in respect of the main thrust of Western Theology, with its passion for systems and rational precision, it would be equally wrong to turn to the thought-world of the Christian East in order to find a convenient category with which to label him. The Evagrian maxim that 'if you truly pray you are a theologian'l does not really help us - within his pages there is no specific spirituality. He does not, for instance, describe the experience of God found in the practice of affective or contemplative prayer. When prayer is his subject, he is rather more likely to describe God's experience of Man's intercessory prayer. Yet he does explore two of the important themes of Christian spirituality: that of the journey and the lEvagrius Ponticus, The Praktilcos & Chapters on Prayer, trans. John Eudes Bamberger OCSO, (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1981) p.65 2 sacredness of place. To these we may add his insights into the joyful and fruitful aspects of the human soul bent on the discernment of the divine within the world. The result is certainly what we might call 'spiritual writing'. Within much of his published work, Jones often writes about men from the perspective of God, and this has two separate but linked implications.