The Whole Wood Behind...

... and in spite of so many exquisite sacred trees

by Dr Dan Waniek, MD
Copyright © 2006 danwaniek.org

The White Goddess : A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth by Robert Graves, 1966.
	There is simply too much to say about this masterpiece. Robert Graves has this special - I'd say "cardinal" - virtue to link apparently disparate fields into one deep and yes, poetical view. This book has an avant-la-lettre Great Goddess good taste. But it is much more than a prophetical work opening vistas for Marija Gimbutas. If James Frazer dreamed alone at his desk and thus redesigned the Golden Bough, then Robert Graves put the Golden Bough (and everything else on his desk) at work for all of us to dream on. Only true poets have such an insight. I started to study Robert Graves for a particular purpose, namely for his unique interpretation of the Pelasgian Myth of Creation. I then found his case for the blank ogham to be compelling. And as I grew a bit older, at last, I tried to see the whole wood behind - and in spite of so many exquisite - sacred trees.
And it is the poetical style of Robert Graves which made it possible. A Great Leap Forward from the usual nonsense concerning structural approaches and so on. Highly recommended! ISBN : 0374504938, BOBE-5250-REFS-0001, RANK : #18,302, 512 pages, 1966, reprint paperback edition.