John Middleton Murry 'Pure Poetry': Summary and Analysis

 

John Middleton Murry (1889-1957) is a prolific writer, thinker and a literary critic of the 20th century. He is a leading figure of the post war generation which included other scholars and critics like T. S. Eliot, D. H. Lawrence, and Aldous Huxley etc. His writings have been collected in several volumes.  His essay 'Pure Poetry' is an extract from the second volume of his work entitled 'Countries of the Mind' published in 1922. This essay 'Pre Poetry' is a reaction to Abbe Bremond's remarks on pure poetry. Here, Murry dismisses mysticism but admits that there is something mysterious in poetry.

AESTHETIC MOVEMENT IN ENGLAND:

The function of poetry has always been a matter of debate and controversy since ages. The roman classicist Horace laid down the doctrine that the aim of poetry is twofold - to instruct and to teach. Aristotle advocated for pleasure and Plato for morals. Longinus talked about the upliftment and sublimity in poetry.  In England, Sir Philip Sidney spoke in favour of teaching and delighting part of poetry and so did Dryden. Shelly during the period of romantic revival took moralistic approach and so did Arnold during the Victorian age.

Aestheticism or aesthetic movement was a European phenomenon during the later 19th century which had its headquarter in France. Its roots lie in the German theory proposed by Kant. This theory was influenced by Edgar Allen Poe. He wrote that the supreme work of poet is "a poem per se", "poem is written for poem's sake".  This doctrine of French aestheticism was introduced into England by Walter Peter with the idea of "art for art's sake". He emphasized the artifice and stylistic subtlety.

THE CONTROVERSY: BREMON'S VIEW ON PURE POETRY:

In his essay entitled 'Pure Poetry', John Middleton Murry deals with a controversy raging hotly in France and not so hotly in England. In France, when the new member was elected in French Academy, Abbe Bremond delivered a brilliant lecture on pure poetry. He concluded his speech with reference to Walter Peter's famous dictum, "All arts inspire to re-join music." To this statement, Abbe Bremond changed the last word and ended his lecture on the note, "All arts aspire to re-join prayer."

In his lecture, Abbe's chief aim was to assert the idea that the poet is filled with divine inspiration in his act of composition. The poem, according to him, prepares the reader for transcendental meditation. The implications are as follows:

1.   The poetry should be divinely inspired.

2.   The content should be religious or spiritual.

3.   The poetry should promote religious feelings among the readers.

According to Bremond, the mystical experience of the poet is conveyed to the reader directly through the magic of words. The words which affect this mystical experience is "pure poetry". Here, it must be noted that Bremond has tried to link his concept with that of Valery and Mallarme. But Valery and Mallarme spoke of a very different kind of pure poetry. They ignored the importance of content or subject matter. For them, pure poetry is concerned with verbal music. But for Bremond, the content (religious or spiritual) is also of equal importance.

MURRY ON 'PURE POETRY':

J. M. Murry in his essay 'Pure Poetry' takes up the discussion and arguments of Abbe Bremond and warns the reader not to be misled by the arguments of Bremond who recommends spiritual message in poetry. According to Murry, the content of the poem is not as important as its poetic quality. In fact, Murry goes further to assert that the content is totally is irrelevant. For example, he takes the opening line of Keats' poem 'Endymion' of which two versions are available:

"A thing of beauty is a constant joy."

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever."

The concluding phrases according to Murry, in both the lines mean the same thing. But the second version is poetry and the first one is not. "A power or current" passes through the second version whereas there is no transmission of power in the first one. Two conclusions can be arrived at:

1.   Poetry is a juxtaposition of words which communicate something and

2.   This 'something' is not an idea or notion.

To Tolstoy, it was an "emotion", to Croce, it was "intuition" and according to Bremond, it is a "mystical experience".

HARMONY OF WORDS:

Citing the above example of Keats' line Murry puts forward his argument that thought is expressed beautifully only through harmony of words. He says that it was not mystical power that made Keats change the line "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." It is true that thought in both the lines is same but the difference lies in the fact that in the second version, the beautiful harmony of words has conveyed the thought in a beautiful way.

THOUGHT AND ITS EMOTIONAL FIELDS:

Murry believes that one should be careful in understanding the word "thought". According to him, every thought presented in pure poetry should have an emotional context or field. Bald thoughts have no place in poetry. Moreover, he is of the view that thought and its emotional fields are inseparable. In a sense, the poet experiences the emotion first and then the thought formulates itself in his mind.

SUBLIMITY IN PURE POETRY:

Thus, according to Murry, pure poetry conveys the thoughts with their emotional fields. Through harmony of words, it conveys the entire experience. But Murry further says that the pure poetry should also have sublimity as advised by Horace and Longinus. The poet should achieve not merely poetical purity but also poetical greatness. The element of sublimity imparts a kind of greatness to poetry. Thus, poetry should not only be pure, it should also be great or sublime.

MURRY'S OBJECTION AGAINST RELIGIOUS CONCERNS:

In this essay, Murry raises his objection against religious concerns of Bremond. Some people, according to Murry, need the consolation of religious thoughts of Christianity and they would find high thoughts in Dante. But some other people who are not so keen or particular about religious thoughts, would find peace and purity in Shakespeare. Thus, it all depends upon our mental or spiritual condition.

CONCLUSION:

Thus, Murry agrees with Bremond that pure poetry should be spiritual and transcendental. But he rejects Bremond's orthodoxy. He rejects the idea that the source of the poet's inspiration is Almighty God and that the poetry should take the reader to that religious experience which is found in prayer. Murry compares the Christian poet Dante with Shakespeare to establish this point.

At the same time, Murry is not prepared to accept Bremond's view that a pure poet is a Christian mystic. It is but natural to have such a conviction and it is equally natural for an unbiased literary critic like Murry to reject it.