Poetry as Spiritual Bridge: Goethe, Tschinag, and Bly

Introduction: Poetry as a Counter-Force

According to Mongolian poet Galsan Tschinag, poetry is "an enormous counter-force against the oppressing weight of the material world." Robert Bly expresses a similar sentiment in "A Meditation on a Poem by Goethe." In that essay, Bly reflects on Georg Groddeck's "Charakter and Typus," a psychoanalytic essay that, according to Bly, exemplifies a new era of human consciousness. Bly notes that Goethe's poem "Wanderers Nachtlied II" and Groddeck's analysis of it represent a shift away from what Tschinag calls "the oppressing weight of the material world." Goethe discusses stillness and silence from a detached point of view, as if channeling a universal voice. In "Wanderers Nachtlied II," Goethe does not write to show the impact of nature on the narrator so much as he is "sending his energy, or it is being pulled out of him by the hills at evening" (Bly 280). Although the value of poetry cannot be reduced to simply a buffer between the individual and the modern world, this is one of its current functions. The value of poetry is much like the value of art or music: it connects a person with the spiritual world via a creative vehicle.

Poetry helps the individual transcend the mundane and connect with the existential. One of the core ways that poets like Tschinag and Goethe accomplish this is by rooting their verse in imagery of nature. Tschinag writes, "When you leave me / I will turn to stone / On the north face of life's mountain." Tschinag's shamanic heritage imbues the poem with even greater spiritual force, as the speaker is not being metaphorical for the sake of literature alone but as an extension of the Mongolian consciousness. As Tschinag states in "Defense of Poetry," "my first verses were shamanic chants." Goethe likewise transcends the mundane to connect with the existential in poems like "Wanderers Nachtlied II." When the narrator states, "Simply wait: soon / You too will be silent," the suggestion is that the person ultimately becomes one with nature, just as Tschinag's narrator does. The natural universe is equated with the existential and transcendent, whereas the mundane world of human worry and care is the mire from which one must be saved via the art of poetry.

Transcending the Mundane Through Nature

Poetry therefore provides the world with a sacred vehicle for self-expression. It allows the ego to express itself as it must, and in so doing ironically transforms its self-centered nature into one focused on the transcendent. Peace is a prevailing motif in the poetry of Tschinag and Goethe, both of whom equate nature with peace. For Goethe, that peace is literally stillness and silence: "There is a stillness / On the tops of the hills." Tschinag writes, "For a long time I've been aiming / At the pinnacle / From which I / Shall rise up / As a storm." The deliberate space added between the penultimate and final lines creates a full stop, so that the phrase "I shall rise up" can be read as either an egotistical ambition or a spiritual aspiration. Thus, poetry bridges the needs of the ego with the needs of the spirit.

The reader gains value from poetry by revisiting poems, studying them, and then writing poetry as well. To revisit a poem is to gain genuine and deep insight into the meanings beneath the surface imagery and metaphors. The essence of the poem is embedded beyond the words themselves. Studying poetry is like exercising a muscle in the human body; one cannot expect to complete a marathon on the first try. Returning to poetry and contemplating the intention of the poet enhances one's understanding and allows the poet to accomplish the goal of connecting the individual with the universal. Finally, to write poetry is to participate fully in the healing of humanity. Poetry can serve as a buffer against the stresses of modernity, or it can enhance an already peaceful existence. As Tschinag puts it, poetry is "the highest-developed organ in the body of human life."