An Analysis of Imagery in Selected Poems of Thomas Merton
This dissertation compares the imagery of Merton’s early verse with that of his late poems to see what development, if any, has taken place. At first a difficulty presented Itself in attempting a chronological study, because the poems of Merton’s first books. Thirty Poems and A Man in the Divided Sea, are not arranged in the order of their composition. Father Louis, himself, however generously solved the problem by sending a list of dates of composition of poems. I chose, therefore, the seven earliest Published poems as the basis of comparison with three poems from the poet’s latest book of verse. The Tears of the Blind Lions. The three poems chosen are those which aroused most comment among reviewers. The total number of lines in the selected early poems is 158, in the later is 142; the total number of words in the first group is 1,000, while the total of the second is 1,065. A quantitative balance would seem to have been struck.
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