The Literature of Ecstasy

The author defines poetry as a verbal composition whose chief quality is ecstasy rather than metrical form, and examines the psychology behind that emotional state. He argues that ecstatic tone, not rhythm, makes writing poetic, that prose is the literature most naturally suited to ecstatic expression and historically precedes verse, and that blank and free verse function as prose-forms. Moral and philosophical ideas attain poetry when written with ecstasy, and the highest poetry often presents advanced social ideals rooted in humanitarian feeling. The book traces unconscious sources of ecstasy and surveys manifestations, including love ecstasy in Arabian verse.