In the theosophy of light,
The logical universal
Ceases to be anything more
Than the dead body of an angel.
What is substance? Our substance
Is whatever we feed our angel.
The perfect incense for worship
Is camphor, whose flames leave no ashes.
from Love is an Art of Time (1974)
in The Complete Poems of Kenneth Rexroth, 702
"In [Suhrawardi’s] theosophy of Light, the entire Platonic theory of Ideas is interpreted in terms of Zoroastrian angelology.… What Aristotelianism considers as the concept of a species, the logical universal, ceases to be anything more than the dead body of an Angel." - Corbin, Creative Imagination, 22. In English, 1969.
Rexroth Reading with music from Rexroth & Barecelona by the Bay
Wow. Rexroth has always been among my favorites. I'd assumed he'd read Corbin, but never caught how Corbin's text (in translation) had been folded-in there. This appears to have escaped the notice of Rexroth's editors, eh?
ReplyDeleteI'd like to hear from anyone who knows anything more about his reading of Corbin.
ReplyDelete