Thomas Trahern and the Felicities of the Mind

Thomas Traherne was a 17th-century metaphysical poet and writer whose works remain relatively unknown (some discovered as recently as the 1990's). Balakier (literature, U. of South Dakota) explores the theme of felicity,"a naturally full and blissful state resulting from contact with the source of thought" througout Traherne's writing, positing that Traherne's felicity was a predecessor of today's notion of the subconscious. Annotation 穢2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)