Jones' Anathemata is the greatest long poem of the last century. I adore all his work, and view him as coming at the end of an age. Poetry is largely dead, and without poetry we all are dead. Post-Jones, only a few good poems made there way from the mundus imaginalis to reality, such as Kathleen Raine's "Millennial Hymn to Lord Shiva."
Yes. 100%. Once you start reading Jones you never stop, even if you don't understand a word at first glance. There's not a day that goes by when I don't think about him. I often wonder too what it must have been like to 'be David Jones', to have this stark awareness, as you say, that he was writing at the end of an age and at the same time to have this deep, abiding faith which didn't 'sugar the pill' or act as a 'crutch' but led him to transmute and transcend his suffering through the luminous jewels of his poetry, art and calligraphy. It will be amazing and fantastic if he's one day canonised. I don't see why he shouldn't be to be honest. We'll know the Church is truly back on course if such a thing happens!
I still don't understand a word of Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, but Jones, while seemingly difficult at first, is worth the effort. Most of the commentaries were not particularly helpful, but the book that really helped open up the Anathemata for me was Dix's "The Shape of the Liturgy". I think Jones and Weil should be canonized. Weil never officially converted, but she was a martyr. Jones, Collins, Lawrence, and Blake were all writer-artists. I wonder if those two realms suffused each other leading to greater insights.
Definitely. The more you read Jones the easier and clearer he becomes. In essence, I think what he's writing is actually very simple and straightforward. That's because he's concerned with reality and truth. The difficulties, such as they are, are all on the surface and as much to do with our own ignorance of culture and history - eg the Welsh and Latin languages - as any decision on the poet's part.
I've not heard of that Dix book. I must have a look.
There's a lovely half hour video on Collins on YT if you haven't seen it -
Jones' Anathemata is the greatest long poem of the last century. I adore all his work, and view him as coming at the end of an age. Poetry is largely dead, and without poetry we all are dead. Post-Jones, only a few good poems made there way from the mundus imaginalis to reality, such as Kathleen Raine's "Millennial Hymn to Lord Shiva."
Yes. 100%. Once you start reading Jones you never stop, even if you don't understand a word at first glance. There's not a day that goes by when I don't think about him. I often wonder too what it must have been like to 'be David Jones', to have this stark awareness, as you say, that he was writing at the end of an age and at the same time to have this deep, abiding faith which didn't 'sugar the pill' or act as a 'crutch' but led him to transmute and transcend his suffering through the luminous jewels of his poetry, art and calligraphy. It will be amazing and fantastic if he's one day canonised. I don't see why he shouldn't be to be honest. We'll know the Church is truly back on course if such a thing happens!
I still don't understand a word of Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, but Jones, while seemingly difficult at first, is worth the effort. Most of the commentaries were not particularly helpful, but the book that really helped open up the Anathemata for me was Dix's "The Shape of the Liturgy". I think Jones and Weil should be canonized. Weil never officially converted, but she was a martyr. Jones, Collins, Lawrence, and Blake were all writer-artists. I wonder if those two realms suffused each other leading to greater insights.
Definitely. The more you read Jones the easier and clearer he becomes. In essence, I think what he's writing is actually very simple and straightforward. That's because he's concerned with reality and truth. The difficulties, such as they are, are all on the surface and as much to do with our own ignorance of culture and history - eg the Welsh and Latin languages - as any decision on the poet's part.
I've not heard of that Dix book. I must have a look.
There's a lovely half hour video on Collins on YT if you haven't seen it -
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XTsocgoLriI
Have a good day and all the best,
Jf