Extrovertive mysticism and the inner unity of opposites : An examination of two philosophical ideas in the early poetry of James Dickey

Certain critics have alluded to the mysticism of James Dickey's early poetry, but little critical work has been done on this aspect of Dickey's work. The purpose of this study was to examine certain philosophical ideas in Dickey's early work, as these ideas inform the poet's underlying, mystical vision. The idea of extrovertive mysticism and the idea of the inner unity of opposites were two philosophical ideas which seemed to operate in many of Dickey's early poems. In extrovertive mysticism the mystic intensifies and explores his sensory experience of the world as a means of establishing a sense of personal connection with the underlying unity of external reality. The inner unity of opposites is the idea that in every system of dualistic opposition, there exists a middle ground of implicit unity/ Oppositions such as life and death, self and other, being and not being, are viewed as the conceptually extreme ends of a common core of related experience.