The Road to Xanadu - A Study in the Ways of the Imagination

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book The Road to Xanadu - A Study in the Ways of the Imagination by John Livingstone Lowes, Read Books Ltd.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: John Livingstone Lowes ISBN: 9781447497370
Publisher: Read Books Ltd. Publication: April 16, 2013
Imprint: Dyer Press Language: English
Author: John Livingstone Lowes
ISBN: 9781447497370
Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
Publication: April 16, 2013
Imprint: Dyer Press
Language: English

THE ROAD TO XANADU. PREFACE: THE story which this book essays to tell was not of the tellers choosing. I t simply came, with supreme indifference to other plans, and autocratically demanded right of way. A glittering eye and a skinny hand and a long gray beard could not have done more summary execution, nor, for that matter, could the Wedding-Guest himself who also had other fish to fry have been, at the outset, a more reluctant auditor. But the reluctance swiftly passed into absorbing interest, as the meaning of the chance glimpse which did the business was disclosed. For the agency which cast the spell was not, as it happened, a pair of marvellous fairy-tales at all, nor even the provocative and baffling personality of their creator. It was the imaginative energy itself, surprised as it seemed to me at work behind these fabrics of its weaving. If I Gas right, and if I could make clear to others what I thought I saw myself, I had no alternative. That the aperpi, such as it was, should come through The Ancient Mariner, when I wasintent at the moment upon Chaucers rich humanity, was, to be sure, more than a little disconcerting. It was so, however, that it chose to come, and Wyrd goeth as she will. Once started on, however, the story has been written in its present form I fear I. must confess quite frankly for the writers own enjoyment - in part for the sheer pleasure of following into unfamiliar regions an almost untrodden path not a little for that fearful joy one snatches from the effort to exhibit, with something that approaches clarity, the order which gives meaning to a chaos of details. It would have been easy in comparison to communicate, for the edification of a narrow circle only, a mass of observations to the pages of some learned journal, and let it go at that. But the subject in itself was far too interesting, and the light it seemed to throw upon a wider field far too significant, to warrant any but the broadest treatment I could give it. I am not sure, indeed, that one of the chief services which literary scholarship can render is not precisely the attempt, at least, to make its findings available and interesting, if that may be beyond the precincts of its own solemn troops and sweet societies. At all events, that is the adventurous enterprise of this volume. Its facts I think I can safely vouch for. As for the interpretation thereof, that is the core of the book...

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

THE ROAD TO XANADU. PREFACE: THE story which this book essays to tell was not of the tellers choosing. I t simply came, with supreme indifference to other plans, and autocratically demanded right of way. A glittering eye and a skinny hand and a long gray beard could not have done more summary execution, nor, for that matter, could the Wedding-Guest himself who also had other fish to fry have been, at the outset, a more reluctant auditor. But the reluctance swiftly passed into absorbing interest, as the meaning of the chance glimpse which did the business was disclosed. For the agency which cast the spell was not, as it happened, a pair of marvellous fairy-tales at all, nor even the provocative and baffling personality of their creator. It was the imaginative energy itself, surprised as it seemed to me at work behind these fabrics of its weaving. If I Gas right, and if I could make clear to others what I thought I saw myself, I had no alternative. That the aperpi, such as it was, should come through The Ancient Mariner, when I wasintent at the moment upon Chaucers rich humanity, was, to be sure, more than a little disconcerting. It was so, however, that it chose to come, and Wyrd goeth as she will. Once started on, however, the story has been written in its present form I fear I. must confess quite frankly for the writers own enjoyment - in part for the sheer pleasure of following into unfamiliar regions an almost untrodden path not a little for that fearful joy one snatches from the effort to exhibit, with something that approaches clarity, the order which gives meaning to a chaos of details. It would have been easy in comparison to communicate, for the edification of a narrow circle only, a mass of observations to the pages of some learned journal, and let it go at that. But the subject in itself was far too interesting, and the light it seemed to throw upon a wider field far too significant, to warrant any but the broadest treatment I could give it. I am not sure, indeed, that one of the chief services which literary scholarship can render is not precisely the attempt, at least, to make its findings available and interesting, if that may be beyond the precincts of its own solemn troops and sweet societies. At all events, that is the adventurous enterprise of this volume. Its facts I think I can safely vouch for. As for the interpretation thereof, that is the core of the book...

More books from Read Books Ltd.

Cover of the book A Guide to Making Wooden Garden Accessories - Including a Novel Garden Barrow, a Garden Bird Table, a Tea Wagon for the Garden and Collecting and Mounting Moths and Butterflies by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book The Early Days Of Motors And Motor Driving - Tips On Motor Driving by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book The Mizan UL Haqq - Or Balance of Truth by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book The Masculine Cross and Ancient Sex Worship by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book Portrait Of Calvin by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book Karl Marx's Capital by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book The Complete Canasta - With The Official Rules and Play by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book The Life of a Well-Known Character (Fantasy and Horror Classics) by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book Nougat - How They Used to Do It by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book Mr. Medhurst and the Princess ('Royal Love') by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-Catcher After 25 Years' Experience by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book Romany Remedies And Recipes by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book Ultor De Lacy: A Legend of Cappercullen by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book In Wildest Africa - The Record Of A Hunting And Exploration Trip Through Uganda, Victoria Nyansa, The Kilimanjaro Region And British East Africa, With An Account Of The Snowfields Of Mount Kibo, In East Central Africa... by John Livingstone Lowes
Cover of the book Eight Greats of Boxing from Heavy-Weight to Fly-Weight by John Livingstone Lowes
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy