To John Powell on The Poet John Clare and the Divine
John L. Waters
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To John Powell on The Poet John Clare and the Divine
John L. Waters
April 20, 2001
Copyright 2001 by John L. Waters. All Rights
Reserved
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The Poet John Clare and the Divine
The English poet John Clare's life and work is
summarized in a 276 page book entitled "A Relish for
Eternity: the process of divnization in the poetry of
John Clare" by Dr. Greg Crossan, published 1976 by the
Institut fur Englische Sprache und Literature
Universitat Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria. I've skimmed
through, picking up bits here and there. I'm going to
have to read this book more carefully.
I've also read parts of several other books about John
Clare and I've read some of his poetry. In many ways
John Clare was very like myself. But he was more
verbal, more socially competent, and more the poetic
mind than the mathematical mind. In my research I've
worked to balance and integrate these two minds. This
is the major part of my research.
I'm including this paper in with two papers on
Questions from John Powell and Students(whom I've met
through the Writer's Center and through tutoring
services at the Disabled Students Center) plus two
short papers which are copies of recommendations off
my personal website, to go with an Introduction to my
work. In addition, the sixth paper is "Introduction
to my work" which is an attempt on my part to convince
a reader that my work isn't just placebo or faith
healing...as you suggestd "The worry is that someone
reading your introduction will think you are doing
something like selling snake oil which you think will
cure everything," (your words).
These papers are not complete, and they form the
kernel for a seminar or a regular meeting with a few
students and a professor who feel that my work is very
basic and very important "seminal" work. (And isn't
"seminal" work good for a "seminar"?)
Dr. Powell, I definitely get the feeling that you
haven't had time to give much attention to my work
this year. However you have been a big help to me in
getting me to focus on certain issues. I'm sure that
I've not anticipated all the comments and questions.
I think the HARDEST thing is getting a person to
recognize the RELEVANCE of my work, not only to
physical health, to mental health, but also to
important practical issues of our troubled, confused,
and hurried times. This has been a serious issue all
of my life, and even as a boy I sensed that people
were missing most of the show. Like John Clare I was
a very nature-oriented boy. I was much less bookish,
though.
It occurs to me that I might work towards a Master's
or a PHD in philosophy or in English, with this theme
in mind. The title of the theme I would need to have
help in constructing. I'm not really an "academic"
mind. Neither was John Clare. But my "fit" did not
come through being published as a poet and/or
songwriter. That was my anticipation and my dream
when I went insane in 1971. But I have other talents,
which have worked together to produce this research on
"curing insanity." John Clare wasn't able to cure his
own insanity, yet he and I were very much alike in our
sensitivity to nature. This is why John Clare is
really an important figure. Or I should say an
important specimen of humanity.
This article is not a well-organized essay with a
strong argument to support a thesis. However, I
wanted to add this article to the papers I am turning
in to you at the end of this semester. The reason is
that I feel that I've thrown up a cloud of ideas and
answers to you, and the cloud hasn't yet congealed
into a single block of ice. You probably still have a
very fuzzy idea of what my life and work is all about.
On page 244 of his book on Clare, Dr. Crossan notes
four major concerns, which he identifies as "eternal
questions" which "perplex us still." I list these
questions here because they give a clue to the
fundamental human problem. Dr. Crossan's questions
are:
1. What is the relation of God to external nature?
2. What is the source of human love?
3. What is the function of human art, and of poetry
in particular?
4. What are our grounds for hope of everlasting life?
Crossan footnotes the last question to: James
Benziger, "Images of Eternity: Studies in the Poetry
of religious Vision from Wordsworth to T.S. Eliot"
(revised edn., Carbondale: Southern Illinois
University Press, 1968), pp. 3-19.
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The most important part of my work is explaining to
people WHY I didn't go berserk and kill myself or kill
some other people before the cops killed me. I had a
lot of difficulties growing up.
The reason I say this is because I always was
handicapped, and an easy target. This pattern has
continued and I continue to take losses. My life has
become focused on this research because it is healing
work and because, like John Clare, people just didn't
have "sensitivity" and just "didn't care" BECAUSE no
one was able to explain WHY this work is important.
My research is not just poetry or just about poetry.
But John Clare, sensitive poetic genius that he was,
had no way of really understanding exactly what he was
sensitive TO. He said it was "nature" but everything
is nature. There is nothing physical that isn't part
of the physical universe. And most all of John
Clare's poetry was about physical objects. In fact
many critics dismissed Clare's work because his poetry
was mainly descriptive.
I believe that John Clare was sensitive to "spirit"
and I believe that other sensitive geniuses like
Vincent van Gogh were very sensitive to "spirit." I
believe basically that when people use the word,
"sensitive," they really mean "sensitive to spirit."
But what IS "spirit"? That is what my work is about.
This semester, for English 200 I've created three
essays, each arguing for a certain thesis. In March I
passed the "first portfolio" and I've done extra work
to create a "second portfolio" which I will turn in
May 8 I think it is. These essays would be good to
include as part of the "seminar" for students to pick
apart and examine, and for me to help them understand
what "spirit" is.
These essays do a pretty good job of introducing my
research on what "spirit" is. By "spirit" I mean the
energy which "inspires" not just a poet like John
Clare, but an artist like Vincent van Gogh who
produces in a "frenzy" of "enthusiasm" even if people
around him think he's deluded or just hopelessly
"autistic." Folks didn't consult the DSM-IV in those
days, but the human mentality remains intolerant and
insensitive. People have all this high technology at
their fingertips, but mentally and emotionally, people
are still preoccupied with the ancient concerns. The
word "practical" is often used but this isn't the
right word.
You have a lot better things to do than read my
ranting. There's a lot of ranting in the newspaper,
in magazines, and in activist circles these days.
There are serious human problems but the essential
problem is that humanity is enveloped in "spirit" but
the most sensitive children get abused and no one
really understands what "spirit" is, and so the human
potential remains unfulfillable. Until humans have
the required language, and learn to use this language
correctly, there can be no genuine understanding of
"spirit" or the full human potential.
John Clare is important because he is one of the
trumpeters. His works help introduce my work, quite a
bit better than do the works of Wordsworth and other
"fancy" writers. Clare's writing is more in the
biblical style. He was more "possessed" by the
"spirit."
John L. Waters
johnlwaters@yahoo.com
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