Barker, George - Barker, George 1913–
Barker, George 1913–
Baker is an English poet, novelist, essayist, and playwright. Although his best poetry is among the finest written in the English language, much of his work is uneven in quality. The antithesis of the detached academic poet, Barker in his writing has been described as Dionysiac, verbally extravagant, esoteric, and self-indulgent. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 9-12, rev. ed.)
Throughout Barker's poetry, the fulfillment of a need for union with a divine and a human presence is threatened by his alienation from both, by his compulsion to struggle against the beloved woman or brother of God, even as he seeks their nurture. In depicting the perennial contest, Barker often combines the role of prophet inspired by a vision of potential salvation and his adversary, ever tempted by self-love, the will to destruction, and death itself….
Barker uses classical myth in his poetry to suggest that the infection of love...
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