The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth

This is a highly personal study of poetry and myth. Graves argues that true poetry springs from an ancient devotion to a Moon goddess, a figure he sees behind much European legend. He ranges across Welsh and Irish poems, the tree alphabet of the Celts, Greek stories and the Bible, following clues through riddles and old texts. Scholars have largely rejected his historical claims, but the book has had a lasting influence on poets and readers who value its passion and imaginative reach. It is best read as a poet's creed rather than as settled scholarship.