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On the occasion of his 70th birthday celebration Freud, introduced as the discoverer of the unconscious, clarified that he did not discover the unconscious. The poets and philosophers had done so well before him. His contribution lay in the application of the scientific method to study it. So begins the introduction by Al Alvarez to this collection of essays which focuses on the parallelism between psychoanalysis and poetry.
Editing authors Canham and Satyamurti chose the title from Robert Frost's poem because it ‘hints at the hidden recesses of mind,’ suggesting the overlapping territory of the poet and the psychoanalytic therapist.
This volume consists of a collection of essays by various authors, who share the intent to examine how each medium explores and expresses the symbolic as they try to understand psychic reality. They view poetry as a universe parallel to psychoanalysis as opposed to viewing it as ‘clinical’ material. Most of the authors practice psychotherapy. Co-author, Satyamurti, also writes poetry.
Similar to the critic, the psychoanalyst serves best when letting go of their own sensibilities, theories or preconceptions, to immerse fully in