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Poetry has been called “the language of the gods,” and in this collection of over 80 short poems, the principles and insights expressed in Schuon’s other writings find a lyrical voice in the most simple and concise form. The poetic imagery is both metaphysical and mystical – whether Hindu, Christian, Moslem or American Indian – as well as drawing on the rich and universal symbolism of Virgin Nature. The message of all of Schuon’s poetry, much needed in our times, is an affirmation of the essential goodness of creation and the preciousness of the human state, not through self-deceiving optimism, but because the Good and the Real coincide, because God’s essential nature is merciful, because man’s deepest being is joy, peace and immortality.
The collection of poems in Road to the Heart has the distinction of having been written in English, unlike the extensive body of Schuon’s other poetic works, which were written in German. Here is a particularly germane sample of the content of the book, as well as of Mr. Schuon’s entire poetic corpus:
The Song
A finite image of Infinity:
This is the purpose of all poetry.
All human work to its last limits tends;
Its Archetype in Heaven never ends.
What is the sense of Beauty and of Art?
To show the way into our inmost Heart-
To listen to the music of the Sky:
And then to realize: the Song was I.
About the Author(s)
Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998) is best known as the foremost spokesman of the “Traditionalist” or “Perennialist” school and as a philosopher in the metaphysical current of Shankara and Plato. He wrote more than two dozen books on metaphysical, spiritual, artistic, and ethnic themes and was a regular contributor to journals on comparative religion in both Europe and America. Schuon’s writings have been consistently featured and reviewed in a wide range of scholarly and philosophical publications around the world, respected by both scholars and spiritual authorities. Besides his prose writings, Schuon was also a prolific poet and a gifted painter of images that always portrayed the beauty and power of the divine, and the nobility and virtue of primordial humanity.
World Wisdom features a series titled “The Writings of Frithjof Schuon”, which includes many new editions of classic books by Schuon in new translations and with additional materials. Our online Library contains many articles and poems written by Frithjof Schuon, allowing readers to see a representative sample of his remarkable body of work.
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