ecstatic poetry is grand in theme and scale, and it
burns with intensity
its source is not the mind, but the heart, the opening
heart
ecstatic poetry seems to spontaneously burst out
of an inspired speaker, who is in an altered state of
consciousness - if not downright crazy
it involves transcending one's mundane and limited
identity; to merge with something greater
this merging is often expressed in erotic terms, but
the ecstatic poetry of masters such as Rumi and
Whitman is not about romance or sex - it is about
merging with the Divine
here are two examples
the first is from
Jalaleddin Rumi, a 13th century Sufi
mystic and poet, born in what is now Afghanistan
Rumi is often referred to as "the best selling poet
in America"
Your love lifts my soul
from the body to the sky
And you lift me up
out of the two worlds.
I want your sun
to reach my raindrops,
So your heat can raise my soul
upward like a cloud.below, is an excerpt from Walt Whitman's
Leaves of GrassWhoever you are!
motion and reflection are especially for you,
The divine ship sails the divine sea for you.
Whoever you are!
you are he or she for whom the earth
is solid or liquid,
You are he or she
for whom the sun and moon hang in the sky,
For none more than you
are the present and the past,
For none more than you is immortality.in the clip below, author
Llewellyn Vaughan-Leedescribes the ecstatic poetry of Rumi