Imagination and Knowledge in Denise Levertov’s The Showings: Lady Julian of Norwich, 1342 – 1416

Abstract

Christian spirituality, Biblical characters, stories and images, and the questions of faith have been a powerful fountain of inspiration for the British-American poet Denise Levertov (1923 – 1997). Strongly influenced by the thought on poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, Levertov believed in the ‘experiential’ dimension of a poet’s vocation, the direct connection between what the writer feels through (experiences) and their creative work. This paper focuses on Levertov’s poetic sequence ‘The Showings: Lady Julian of Norwich, 1342-1416’, published in the collection Breathing the Water (1987). ‘The Showings: Lady Julian of Norwich, 1342-1416’ is the poet’s personal response to the medieval mystical text known as Revelations of Divine Love, written by an English anchoress and mystic Julian of Norwich. The paper seeks to explore how Levertov approaches Julian’s text and how she interprets its relevance for modern readers. Special attention is given to the concept of imagination, which, according to Levertov, "is the perceptive organ through which it is possible, though not inevitable, to experience God".