Poetic Champions Compose
Van Morrison and the Romantic Tradition
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21671445 |
|---|---|
| Authors | James Mellis (0000-0002-8131-6263, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sillages critiques (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1272-3819 • E-ISSN: 1969-6302 |
| Publisher | OpenEdition (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.4000/15rov |
| OpenAlex | W7131638855 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 5 |
For over sixty years, Northern Irish singer Van Morrison has crafted a musical legacy that is uniquely his own. Through it all, Morrison has engaged with multiple Romantic literary figures – naming them in his lyrics, invoking recurring themes based on Romantic tropes and symbols, particularly those of William Blake, and otherwise positioning himself as part of the Romantic poetic tradition. In addition, Morrison has explored themes from Irish mythology as well as Eastern philosophy. This essay explores Morrison’s engagement with Romantic and Irish poets, particularly William Blake and W. B. Yeats, arguing that the song “Tir Na Nog,” from his 1986 album No Guru, No Method, No Teacher, represents a new thread in the Romantic tradition, demonstrating a hybrid of British pastoral imagery, Irish mythology, Buddhist philosophy and romantic love, merged into a song that is singularly Morrison’s
Irish · Mythology · Poetry · Romance · Romanticism · Historical Studies of British Isles · Irish and British Studies · Moravian Church and William Blake
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |