Born into a Guelph family (see Guelphs and Ghibellines) of decayed nobility, Dante moved in patrician society. He was a member of the Florentine cavalry that routed the Ghibellines at Campaldino in 1289. The next year, after the death (1290) of Beatrice, the woman he loved, he plunged into intense study of classical philosophy and Provençal poetry. This woman, thought to have been Beatrice Portinari, was Dante's acknowledged source of spiritual inspiration.

Dante married Gemma Donati, had three children, and was active (1295–1300) as councilman, elector, and prior of Florence. In the complex politics of Florence, he found himself increasingly opposed to the temporal power of Pope Boniface VIII, and he eventually allied himself with the White Guelphs. After the victory of the Black Guelphs he was dispossessed and banished (1302). Exile made Dante a citizen of all Italy; he served various princes, but supported Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII as the potential savior of a united Italy. He died at the court of Guido da Polenta in Ravenna, where he is buried.

William Blake - Poetry

William Blake was a poet, artist, engraver and visionary mystic. He wrote many volumes of poetry that he illustrated with hand engraving. During his lifetime he was often misuderstood. His poetry is now widely regarded as amongst the worlds greatest literature. HIs greatest works include "Songs of Innocence" and Songs of Experience" William Blake was born in London and spent most of his life in London. He died in 1827.

Wordsworth' verdict after Blake's death reflected many opinions of the time: "There was no doubt that this poor man was mad, but there is something in the madness of this man which interests me more than the sanity of Lord Byron and Walter Scott."

William Blake wrote many immortal utterances including these memorable lines from Auguries of Innocence.

"To see a world in a grain of sand
And heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

Sri Chinmoy Poetry

Sri Chinmoy has written many volumes of poetry. My Flute is a collection of poetry from Sri Chinmoy's earlier period of writing poetry.

Sri Chinmoy has had an interest in poetry since his early childhood. Poetry runs in his family with his fathers and 2 brothers also composing many poems. He began writing poems in his early teen years. These early poems have become some of Sri Chinmoy’s most love poems, they are expositions of his inner meditations and experiences. They are striking in their boldness and power, a capacity a poet can only offer through personal experience. As the words of the “Absolute” demonstrate.

“No mind, no form, I only exist;    
Now ceased all will and thought.
The final end of Nature's dance,
I am It whom I have sought.”

- From My Flute

Sri Chinmoy’s poetry is all related in some way to spirituality. Some of his poems describe the spiritual experience that an aspirant might pass through, including the yearning and loneliness felt when a seeker feels his separation from the source.

The dumb earth-waste now burns a hell to my soul.
I fail to fight with its stupendous doom,
My breath is a slave of that unending gloom.
For Light I pine, but find a tenebrous goal.

- Struggle’s Gloom from My Flute

On the other hand there are also ecstatic revelations of the interior spiritual consciousness. The great Sufi poets speak of being drunk with the wine of the beloved, a metaphor for the indescribable ecstasy of divine communion. Sri Chinmoy is also a poet who has scaled the lofty heights of mysticism, using different terms he moulds the English language to combine the essence of spiritual vision.

“No more my heart shall sob or grieve.
My days and nights dissolve in God's own Light.
Above the toil of life my soul
Is a Bird of Fire winging the Infinite.”

Sri Chinmoy is a great writer of prose having completed many 100s of books but he says it is poetry which gives him the most joy.

“The prose writer has thunder-legs. 
The poet has lightning-feet.    
Arriving at the destination, the prose writer declares,
"I have become."    
Arriving at the same destination, the poet whispers, "I eternally am."    

- Sri Chinmoy (1)

Like many poets nature has been a source of inspiration for the poetry of Sri Chinmoy. In particular Sri Chinmoy the Seer Poet can see the hand of the divine in all aspects of life. He writes poetry not for intellectual seekers or to explain, he merely uses poetry to offer a glimpse into the world of mysticism.

“Poetry is not something to be understood.    
Poetry is not something even to be felt.    
Poetry is something to discover one's universal Reality.    
Poetry is something to uncover one's transcendental Divinity.”

Sri Chinmoy (1)