The Changing Light at Sandover
E615698
The Changing Light at Sandover is James Merrill’s ambitious, book-length epic poem that blends autobiography, occult séances, and philosophical reflection into a sprawling modern visionary work.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
epic poem
ⓘ
visionary poem ⓘ |
| author | James Merrill NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| awarded | National Book Award for Poetry NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| basedOn | Ouija board séances ⓘ |
| containsElement |
cosmic mythology
ⓘ
self-reflexive commentary on writing ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| criticalReception | highly acclaimed ⓘ |
| firstPartOriginallyPublishedIn | Divine Comedies NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| firstPartPublication | The Book of Ephraim NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| form | verse ⓘ |
| genre |
autobiographical poetry
ⓘ
occult literature ⓘ philosophical poetry ⓘ poetry ⓘ |
| hasLiteraryForm | dialogue with spirits ⓘ |
| hasPart |
Mirabell: Books of Number
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Scripts for the Pageant NERFINISHED ⓘ The Book of Ephraim NERFINISHED ⓘ The Higher Keys NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
Western esotericism
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
modernist poetry ⓘ spiritualism ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mainCharacter |
David Jackson
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Ephraim NERFINISHED ⓘ James Merrill NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| medium | print ⓘ |
| notableCharacter | Mirabell NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| notableFor |
integration of occult material into high literary form
ⓘ
use of Ouija board transcripts as poetic material ⓘ |
| period | late 20th-century American poetry ⓘ |
| publicationPeriod | 1970s–1980s ⓘ |
| publisher | Atheneum (collected edition) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| setting |
Sandover
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Stonington, Connecticut NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| structure | three-part sequence with coda ⓘ |
| style |
formally intricate
ⓘ
highly allusive ⓘ |
| targetAudience | adult readers ⓘ |
| theme |
afterlife
ⓘ
art and creation ⓘ autobiography ⓘ history and cosmology ⓘ metaphysics ⓘ occult communication with spirits ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.