Devotional Poetry II: Mystic Trees (1913)

Abstract

This chapter discusses the formal qualities of Mystic Trees (1913), the volume of devotional poetry written by Bradley, in the context of literary and linguistic decadence. Had Bradley and Cooper intermixed their devotional poems in one volume, a second chapter on devotional forms would likely be unnecessary. Published in a single volume, the poems would have suggested two ways of working toward the resolution of poetic practice with religious belief: through literal analogies and through double and triple rhymes that suggest an analogical relationship of poet/s, God, and the holy trinity. But Bradley wrote separately, and this chapter addresses her specific way of establishing a Catholic understanding of truth and authority—a way that accords with turn-of-the-century ideas of decadence and modernity. Mystic Trees, like Poems of Adoration, is in conversation with the social and philosophical concerns that informed earlier versions of Michael Field and their works. Rather than a departure from earlier forms and themes, Mystic Trees intensifies them, featuring heavy rhyme, multivalent meanings, same-sex desire, and sacrifice for love.