It's funny. It seems to me that people who dismiss "mountain awe" out of hand have probably never climbed a mountain. Speaking as a poet who has climbed the Grand Tetons, and other mountains, I find that to be just another example of the parochial dismissal of ecstasy.
And to take nothing way from Petrarch, it must be pointed out that Asia has a much older, rich tradition of poetry of mountain awe. India and China in particular.
It's funny. It seems to me that people who dismiss "mountain awe" out of hand have probably never climbed a mountain. Speaking as a poet who has climbed the Grand Tetons, and other mountains, I find that to be just another example of the parochial dismissal of ecstasy.
ReplyDeleteAnd to take nothing way from Petrarch, it must be pointed out that Asia has a much older, rich tradition of poetry of mountain awe. India and China in particular.
Well, you're right about climbing mountains, Art. I've only done it in the Adirondacks, but there is nothing like it.
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