The Way of Poetry

This concise, potent essay presents a first comprehensive theory of what “Daoist” poetry might involve. Beginning with the vision of the ancient classics and informed by Daoist practice, John Leonard searches through poetry from different cultures to find a class of putatively Daoist poetry outside the Chinese tradition. He then suggests ways to recognise its following of the Way and outlines basic principles and guidelines, also including a number of his own poems.

• John Leonard, Author