Mark Vernon
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Chariots of Fire. Barfield, Blake and the saving energy of words

16 August 2025. From the archive of Mark's older writing; new posts are on Substack.


Beatrice Addressing Dante from the Car by William Blake

How does poetry work? What does the poetic release in us? My favourite theory comes from Owen Barfield, the great friend of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. He has a proposal about the magic of poesy and it has to do with the energy of words.

A new essay at my Substack, A Golden String.