The Apocalyptic Movement | Martha Fodaski (essay date 1969)
Martha Fodaski (essay date 1969)
SOURCE: “Barker's Esthetic: Dynamic Philosophy,” in George Barker, Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1969, pp. 15-29.
[In the following excerpt, Fodaski examines George Barker's literary output, theorizing that much of his poetry inspired the Apocalyptic Poets.]
George Barker's poetry discloses a fundamentally Romantic and religious sensibility. Keenly aware of the magic and mystery of language and of the trial and tragedy of human life, his first-person speaker is seer and sinner, apostate and aspiring saint. Questor, prophet, interrogator, supplicant, or critic, he struggles to resolve contradictions between feeling and thought, gratification and guilt, and the beast and god in man. His early (1933-1937) and middle (1938-1949) poetry batters at the dark mysteries of idealism, sexuality, war, and man's spiritual isolation. His later poetry (1950-) is often chastened, sometimes spare and lyrical, sometimes...
[The entire page is 6641 words long]
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