Mystical Poetry - To Be Read In Your Lifetime
Awe-Inspiring Mystic Poets
Falling Upon The Right Ears, Poetry Changes Lives
Poets are seekers, they are mystics, naturalists and more, and their poetry is one of the most useful expressions of their inner experiences. Poets have a way of evoking life’s mysteries and most complex philosophies in just a few short lines. And if falling upon the right ears, those lines can change lives.
By nature a poet is able to access a state of consciousness that is beyond the usual awareness of humanity. However through poetry it is possible for the poets to give a glimpse of higher worlds, like a finger pointing to the moon there inspiring utterances offer a poetic description of their elevating experiences.
Below are 10 awe-Inspiring mystic poets to read in your lifetime. In their words, I hope you find beauty and meaning:
1. Rabindranath Tagore
“In the joy of your heart may you feel the living joy that sang one spring morning, sending its glad voice across an hundred years.”~ The Gardener 85 by Rabindranath Tagore.
Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. In addition to writing poetry, Tagore delved into fiction, drama, essays, and music, with the themes of aesthetics and religion making frequent appearances.
2. William Blake
“Where mercy, love, and pity dwell there God is dwelling too.”~ The Divine Image by William Blake.
William Blake was an English poet, painter, engraver, and visionary who lived during the late-18th and early-19th centuries. His biographer saidBlake wrote “for children and angels; himself ‘a divine child,’ whose playthings were sun, moon, and stars, the heavens and the earth.”
3. Mary Oliver
“Do you bow your head when you pray or do you look up into that blue space? Take your choice, prayers fly from all directions.” ~ Felicity by Mary Oliver.
Mary Oliver is an American poet with a remarkable knack for making nature come alive through verse. Her work has been recognized by many awards over the years, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and a Lannan Literary Award.
4. Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
“Like seabirds, we are born from the sea of the soul.”~ Rumi.
Rumi was a 13th century Persian poet, Islamic scholar and theologian. Rumi is so beloved that when he died and was buried in Konya, Turkey, his tomb became a place of pilgrimage.
5. Walt Whitman
“Clear and sweet is my soul, and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul.” ~ Song of Myself by Walt Whitman.
Walt Whitman lived during the 19th century and is ranked among the foremost American authors. His landmark Leaves of Grass explores themes of nature, identity and love, as well as diving into the realm of the soul and spirit.
6. Kahlil Gibran
“When you love you should not say, ‘God is in my heart,’ but rather, ‘I am in the heart of God.” ~ The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.
Khalil Gibran was a key player in the Romantic movement of Arabic literature that arose in the first half of the 20th century. He is perhaps best known for his English-language book, The Prophet, which reportedly made him the third best-selling poet in history.
7. Hildegard von Bingen
“God’s Word is in all creation, visible and invisible. The Word is living, being, spirit, all verdant all creativity.” ~ God’s Word Is In All Creation by Hildegard von Bingen.
German composer and abbess Hildegard von Bingen lived during the 12th century and claimed her writings were inspired by divine visions. Though she began having visions as a child, it wasn’t until her 40s that Hildegard began writing a record of these visions, which came to be known as Scivias(Know the Ways). She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.
8. Khwāja Šamsu d-Dīn Muḥammad Hāfez-e Šīrāzī
“Go running through this world giving love, giving love …” ~ If the Falling of a Hoof by Hafez.
Best known simply as Hafez, this Persian poet lived during the 14th century and wrote frequently on love and spirituality. Hafez was heavily influenced by Sufism, a movement of Islamic mysticism.
9. Wendell Berry
“And this, then, is the vision of that Heaven of which we have heard, where those who love each other have forgiven each other.” ~ To My Mother by Wendell Berry.
Author Wendell Berry has long written about the need for humans to live in harmony with the earth. He was awarded the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in 2013. Berry approaches the natural world with reverence and humility, infusing spirituality into much of his writing.
And last but not least,
10. Emily Dickinson
“If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.” ~ If I Can Stop by Emily Dickinson.
American poet Emily Dickinson lived during the 19th century and left a remarkable legacy of works that challenged many of poetry’s conventions. Dickinson rejected religion in many ways, but sought the enrichment of the soul through words and imagery.
Thank you for reading. Here are some of my curated poetry and I hope you will enjoy reading them all too.
