Mysticism in English Literature By Caroline F. E. Spurgeon "Many are the thyrsus-bearers, but few are the mystics" Phædo Mysticism in English Literature Note The variety of applications of the term "mysticism" has forced me to restrict myself here to a discussion of that philosophical type of mysticism which concerns itself with questions of ultimate reality. My aim, too, has been to consider this subject in connection with great English writers. I have had, therefore, to exclude, with regret, the literature of America, so rich in mystical thought. I wish to thank Mr John Murray for kind permission to make use of an article of mine which appeared in the _Quarterly Review_, and also Dr Ward and Mr Waller for similar permission with regard to certain passages in a chapter of the _Cambridge History of English Literature_, vol. ix. I am also indebted to Mr Bertram Dobell, Messrs Longmans, Green, Mrs Coventry Patmore and Mr Francis Meynell for most kindly allowing me to quote from the works respectively of Thomas Traherne, Richard Jefferies, Coventry Patmore, and Francis Thompson. C.F.E.S. _April_ 1913. Contents I. Introduction Definition of Mysticism. The Early Mystical Writers. Plato. Plotinus. Chronological Sketch of Mystical Thought in England. II. Love and Beauty Mystics Shelley, Rossetti, Browning, Coventry Patmore, and Keats. III. Nature Mystics Henry Vaughan, Wordsworth, Richard Jefferies. IV. Philosophical Mystics (i) _Poets._--Donne, Traherne, Emily Brontë, Tennyson. (ii) _Prose Writers._--William Law, Burke, Coleridge, Carlyle. V. Devotional and Religious Mystics The Early English Writers: Richard Rolle and Julian; Crashawe, Herbert, and Christopher Harvey; Blake and Francis Thompson. Bibliography Index Mysticism in English Literature Chapter I Introduction Mysticism is a term so irresponsibly applied in English that it has become the first duty of those who use it to explain what they mean by it. The _Concise Oxford Dictionary_ (1911), after defining a mystic as "one who believes in spiritual apprehension of truths beyond the understanding," adds, "whence _mysticism_ (n.) (often contempt)." Whatever may be the precise force of the remark in brackets, it is unquestionably true that mysticism is often used in a semi-contemptuous way to denote vaguely any kind of occultism or spiritualism, or any specially curious or fantastic views about God and the universe. The word itself was originally taken over by the Neo-platonists from the Greek mysteries, where the name of μύστης given to the initiate, probably arose from the fact that he was one who was gaining a knowledge of divine things about which he must keep his mouth shut (μύω = close lips or eyes). Hence the association of secrecy or "mystery" which still clings round the word.