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Literary Criticism Canadian

Between the Temple and the Cave

The Religious Dimensions of the Poetry of E.J. Pratt

by (author) Angela T. McAuliffe

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
May 2000
Category
Canadian, General
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780773520578
    Publish Date
    May 2000
    List Price
    $110.00

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Out of print

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Description

Drawing on a wide variety of newly available source material, Angela McAuliffe examines the roots of Pratt's religious attitudes, including his strict Methodist upbringing in Newfoundland and his plans to enter the ministry. She explores Pratt's early prose and unpublished poetry, including his theses on demonology and Pauline eschatology and the unpublished poem "Clay," to trace the origins of religious ideas and motifs that occur in his later work. McAuliffe focuses on key motifs in Pratt's poetry, such as his image of a distant and formidable God, his apocalyptic vision of the world, and his belief in determinism and fate. She concludes that the diversity of religious positions attributed to Pratt and the image of God that emerges from his poetry are facets of the ironic vision of a man of twentieth-century sensibility who wrestled with God and sought a medium of expression equal to his themes.

About the author

Editorial Reviews

"The first book-length examination of a topic of central importance to one of Canada's most important and, at present, undervalued poets, Between the Temple and the Cave rests on a deep foundation of Christian theology and original research and contains a great deal of fresh context and insight." David Bentley, Department of English, University of Western Ontario