THE COMMUNITY OF THE POEM Towards an Ethics of the Poetic Spirit With the poetry of Francis Webb Christopher John Wareham Bachelor of Architecture (1980) Advanced-Diploma Library/Information Services (2009) Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Philosophy) University of Tasmania May 2013 Declaration of Originality This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for a degree or diploma by the University or any other institution, except by way of background information and duly acknowledged in the thesis, and to the best of my knowledge and belief no material previously published or written by another person except where due acknowledgement is made in the text of the thesis, nor does the thesis contain any material that infringes copyright. Signed: Date: 25/06/2013 (Christopher John Wareham) This thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying and communication in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. Signed: Date: 25/06/2013 (Christopher John Wareham) Abstract There is an ancient antagonism of philosophy towards poetry from the time of Plato that still casts its shadow over philosophical practice. In terms of the univocal standard in philosophy’s critical discourse, poetry appears vague, ambiguous and uninformative with little or no epistemological value. Because a poem’s genesis is thought to be irrational and its claims nonsensical, philosophy devalues poetic inspiration and ignores the truth to be garnered from it. Contrary to these attitudes much in poetry is of considerable relevance to the philosophical program. It is necessary to redress the imbalance caused by the unilateral dominance of critical discourse and its hermeneutic assumptions in philosophy. This thesis undertakes a re-assessment of poetry by returning it to its proper hermeneutic and existential milieu, in turn promoting a deeper appreciation of philosophical possibility from the re-introduction of poetic discourse into philosophical enquiry. Employing cross-between a Hegelian and Kierkegaardian dialectical method, this thesis situates insights gained from literary critical theory into the context of Existentialist and Personalist philosophy. Kierkegaard’s dialectic has proved an appropriate methodology for a philosophy of poetry and poetic experience in its ability to rigorously maintain the tension between negatives and in its organic development of transcendent dialectical stages of increasing explanatory power, without the necessity required by Hegel. However, as Hegel said, truth is expressed in the whole, not merely encapsulated in its end product. A parallel discursive stream critically analyses poetry by Australian poet Francis Webb to complement and ground the philosophy in an authentic poetic voice. The consequent integrated structure fashions a negative mould making possible a further dialectical act in outlining an ethics of the poetic spirit in the thesis conclusion. 1 Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 1 A dialectic of the poetic spirit .................................................................................... 6 The ancient quarrel ......................................................................................... 8 Rationalism and poetry ................................................................................... 13 Hegel’s dialectic ............................................................................................. 19 Kierkegaard’s dialectic ................................................................................... 26 The dialectic as method and theory ................................................................ 44 Theory Chapter contents ................................................................................ 50 The case study: Francis Webb ........................................................................ 53 Case Study Chapter contents .......................................................................... 60 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................ 63 On incompleteness: the indeterminacy of poetic metaphor ....................................... 65 The question of poetic metaphor .................................................................... 66 The self-focusing message ............................................................................. 72 The paradox of poetic metaphor ..................................................................... 81 Gödelian Incompleteness ............................................................................... 84 Incompleteness in Royce’s philosophy .......................................................... 87 Derrida and the undecidability of writing ...................................................... 89 Poetic Incompleteness .................................................................................... 97 A Drum for Ben Boyd ................................................................................................ 102 The “drum” as metaphor ................................................................................ 103 The hero and his critics .................................................................................. 107 Identity and despair ........................................................................................ 114 Power and alienation ...................................................................................... 119 The death of Boyd .......................................................................................... 125 On mystery: poetic being and the meaningful ........................................................... 135 Beauty and the meaningful ............................................................................. 136 The mystery of mystery .................................................................................. 139 Mystery in poetry ........................................................................................... 141 Paul Ricoeur on poetic metaphor ................................................................... 144 The Riddle of the Sphinx ............................................................................... 149 Poetry and thinking being .............................................................................. 154 The withdrawal of mystery ............................................................................ 156 The pointing icon ........................................................................................... 158 Paradox and the relative breach ..................................................................... 160 Revelation in poetry ....................................................................................... 164 Leichhardt in Theatre ................................................................................................. 167 Tropes of display ............................................................................................ 168 The dark pantomime ....................................................................................... 175 Tragedy and the death of Gilbert .................................................................... 180 Lampooning the hero ..................................................................................... 183 Solitude and despair ....................................................................................... 185 The spiritual dimension of oblivion ............................................................... 189 Epilogue in the wasteland .............................................................................. 192 On enrichment: the quest for authenticity .................................................................. 196 2 Entanglement and engagement ....................................................................... 199 The nature of claiming ................................................................................... 203 Contemplation and ingatheredness ................................................................. 207 Possibility and necessity ................................................................................. 210 Enrichment and grace ..................................................................................... 215 The Canticle ............................................................................................................... 218 Aesthete and saint ........................................................................................... 219 Invidia: the envy of the Leper ........................................................................ 223 Avarita: the greed of the Father ...................................................................... 228 Gula: the gluttony of the Wolf of Gubbio ...................................................... 234 Luxuria: the lechery of the Jongleur .............................................................. 238 Acedia: the despair of the Serf ....................................................................... 244 Superba: the pride of the Knight .................................................................... 247 Ira: the wrath of Brother Ass .......................................................................... 251 The poetry of redemption ............................................................................... 254 On affirmation: bearing witness