The White Goddess by Robert Graves

The White Goddess
A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth
by Robert Graves

Paperback
512 pages
(July 1997)
Noonday Pr
ISBN: 0374504938

Bookshelf Categories

Goddesses & the Divine Feminine
Creativity

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Synopsis:

From Amazon.com:

Robert Graves, the late British poet and novelist, was also known for his studies of the mythological and psychological sources of poetry. With The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, Graves was able to combine many of his passions into one work. While the book is so poetically written that many of the passages amount to prose poems, it is also frequently plot driven enough to feel like a novel, and it is rich with scholarly insight into the deep wells of poetry. Especially fascinating is the chapter in which Graves explores the ancient and ongoing practice of poets' invoking the muse. Graves details the practice in both the Eastern and Western literary traditions, and shows specific similarities and differences among Greek, British, and Irish tales and myths about the muse. Graves has much to offer students of history and myth, but poetry lovers will also be fascinated with The White Goddess.

Reviews:

Beautiful and Wonderful

2/24/2001

Reviewer: A reader from chisholm, mn USA

This is by far one of the best books I have read. It covers alot about mythology and the poetry they used. Which I might add was very beautiful poetry. There is no fluff here just a beautiful work on mythology and poetry.

Allow yourselves to discover a different universe

9/14/2000

Reviewer: Eduardo from Mexico

I am not an expert on the topics and themes touched by this book, but how many doors, ideas and sensations are opened by it! Nothing prepared me for the beauty in it. I understand that many things in it are speculation from the author, but what daring views, what awarenes of connections.

I would recommend the readers to continue on to "King Jesus"

Despite its detractors, The White Goddess shines!

12/7/1999

Reviewer: Padma from Central City, Colorado

Pedants and nay-sayers, those who, through their own lack of poetical talent, or any other kind of talent that might render them human, must devote their lives to so-called "scholarship" and mere didacticism will, of course, be troubled if not outraged by Graves' magnificent contribution to the Occidental mind. For Graves returns something of seminal value, something that was lost--or rather stolen--during the two-millenia-long conquest of the Western world (and the Western mind) by that most alien and Middle Eastern tradition, Christianity. "The White Goddess" sifts through the onion-like layers of Levantine nonsense that obscure the Western tradition, and discovers underneath it all a venerable and ancient religious tradition that extends back to man's (and woman's) earliest recorded spiritual expressions in Europe. The White Goddess is the Muse, the Moon, the gobbler-up of poets...the poet's lover, his soulmate, and his sole purpose for living. I have taken the path of scholarship in my life, and found it valuable--to a point. But it's a path of emasculation, plodding intellect without those other qualities that render us human: instinct, intuition, and the magical awareness of Beauty. While certain of Graves' claims may raise eyebrows (and cockles) in certain highbrow ivory towers, I've seen no attempt as bold as Graves', that is, to tackle the ancient Welsh Riddle of the Trees...they want to condemn him, without possessing the courage to offer their own interpretations of the text(s) Graves himself has tackled. I am a poet, and I can say only one more thing regarding Graves: I read him, and I was seized...his description of the poet's relationship to his Muse was exactly the relationship I had known since acknowledging the path of the poet as my own. Yes, this is intuitive...it is nonetheless TRUE!

Great Poetry, BAAAD History

10/12/1998

Reviewer: A reader from Oregon

If you treat this as poetry or new mythology, this is a great book. Inspiring, poetic -- great stuff. Unfortunately, it's presented as history and a commentary on ancient mythology -- and that it's not. I'm a medievalist; the quality of the historical "research" is exceptionally low. In fact, Graves is responsible for much of the historical misinformation that plagues Neo-Paganism. He invented the Triple Goddess motif (Maiden, Mother, and Crone), the "Celtic" tree calendar, and the notion that lunar calendars have thirteen months. So while I acknowledge the beauty of Graves' vision, I can't recommend his book highly. It's done too much damage.

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Beautiful and Wonderful	2/24/2001
Reviewer: A reader from chisholm, mn USA
This is by far one of the best books I have read. It covers alot about mythology and the poetry they used. Which I might add was very beautiful poetry. There is no fluff here just a beautiful work on mythology and poetry.

Despite its detractors, The White Goddess shines!	12/7/1999
Reviewer: Padma from Central City, Colorado
Pedants and nay-sayers, those who, through their own lack of poetical talent, or any other kind of talent that might render them human, must devote their lives to so-called "scholarship" and mere didacticism will, of course, be troubled if not outraged by Graves' magnificent contribution to the Occidental mind. For Graves returns something of seminal value, something that was lost--or rather stolen--during the two-millenia-long conquest of the Western world (and the Western mind) by that most alien and Middle Eastern tradition, Christianity. "The White Goddess" sifts through the onion-like layers of Levantine nonsense that obscure the Western tradition, and discovers underneath it all a venerable and ancient religious tradition that extends back to man's (and woman's) earliest recorded spiritual expressions in Europe. The White Goddess is the Muse, the Moon, the gobbler-up of poets...the poet's lover, his soulmate, and his sole purpose for living. I have taken the path of scholarship in my life, and found it valuable--to a point. But it's a path of emasculation, plodding intellect without those other qualities that render us human: instinct, intuition, and the magical awareness of Beauty. While certain of Graves' claims may raise eyebrows (and cockles) in certain highbrow ivory towers, I've seen no attempt as bold as Graves', that is, to tackle the ancient Welsh Riddle of the Trees...they want to condemn him, without possessing the courage to offer their own interpretations of the text(s) Graves himself has tackled. I am a poet, and I can say only one more thing regarding Graves: I read him, and I was seized...his description of the poet's relationship to his Muse was exactly the relationship I had known since acknowledging the path of the poet as my own. Yes, this is intuitive...it is nonetheless TRUE!

Great Poetry, BAAAD History	10/12/1998
Reviewer: A reader from Oregon
If you treat this as poetry or new mythology, this is a great book. Inspiring, poetic -- great stuff. Unfortunately, it's presented as history and a commentary on ancient mythology -- and that it's not. I'm a medievalist; the quality of the historical "research" is exceptionally low. In fact, Graves is responsible for much of the historical misinformation that plagues Neo-Paganism. He invented the Triple Goddess motif (Maiden, Mother, and Crone), the "Celtic" tree calendar, and the notion that lunar calendars have thirteen months. So while I acknowledge the beauty of Graves' vision, I can't recommend his book highly. It's done too much damage.