Читать книгу Thomas Merton's Poetics of Self-Dissolution онлайн

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Like Merton, Petisco’s use of language and of present–day philosophy is constantly measured against the benchmarks of contemplation, silence and a focus on the mysterious central presence of the Trinity, benchmarks that Merton did so much to reestablish in western thought in the twentieth century. The essays find fertile cross references between ideas, particularly as expressed in poetry. They explore Merton’s poems themselves, searching out inner meanings and clarifying their references. She also looks at other poets, particularly T.S. Eliot and William Blake, and illuminates the arguments for and against translation in an essay that demonstrates her ability to go beyond explanation to open up new ideas. Here she brings poetry back to a central position in language invoking the idea of a “field of common reason” where the words of the poem take us beyond author or translator. We live surrounded by words deriving from power and control that are devoid of depth and humanity. We flourish with words that are subtle and poetic, that bring us together with other people and that reconcile our exterior and interior divisions. It is most inspiring to follow arguments and discussions that are not simply scholarly enquiry but are dedicated to changing the damaged and damaging thought structures of the modern world itself.