This work is a critical study in four parts: (1) a general inquiry into ecstatic states; (2) an historical outline of the ecstatic poetic tradition; (3) an intensive study of five representative poets - Rumi, Wordsworth, Whitman, Dickinson, and Tagore; and (4) a discussion of critical implications, especially those bearing on psychology, sociology, and religion, as well as an analysis of ecstatic poetics and aesthetics in literary studies. The central focus is an ancient theory of poetry in which an enraptured poet induces states of ecstasy in his or her readers or auditors. Such poets abound in the ancient Indo-European tradition, from India, ancient Persia, Europe, the ancient Near East, the British Isles and Ireland, but they are also found across the globe in several non-Indo-European traditions. The poetry of the five subjects in the study can be characterised as verse that configures peak experiences; simulates intense positive affect; affirms physicality or sexuality; effects well-being; takes delight in the abundance of nature; expands the self in constructive ways beyond its boundaries; orients itself positively towards the sacred; inspires dance and movement; and suggests images of flight and inebriation, among others. The book thus bolsters the nascent field of eudaimonics, a multidisciplinary inquiry into the nature of human flourishing.

Great literature is more often praised for compelling depictions of conflict and tragedy than for moving portrayals of harmony and well-being. This collection of verse brings together poems of felicity, capturing what it means to be well in the fullest sense. Presented in 14 thematic sections, these works offer inspiring readings on wisdom, self-love, ecstasy, growth, righteousness, love and lust, inspiration, oneness with nature, hope, irreverence, awe, the delights of the senses, gratitude and compassion, relation to the sacred, justice, and unity. At times elegant, at others blunt, these poems reflect on what it means to live a rich, fulfilling life.

The ecstatic poetic tradition connects many cultures and also reaches across vast stretches of time, influencing a considerable number of poets throughout history. Wild Poets of Ecstasy broadly represents this tradition, bringing together ancient and modern poetry from the world's literary treasuries. Containing poems from over 100 secular and religious writers, this anthology is a sustained celebration of human beings in their best moments-"the soul at the white heat," to use Emily Dickinson's line. The selections praise the goodness of life, the abundance of nature, and the intimate interrelation of the whole cosmos. They also affirm the value of happiness, human connections, festivities, sexuality, and relatedness to the divine. Wild Poets of Ecstasy generously offers a cornucopia of poems depicting peak states of being and positive, life-affirming emotions, such as serenity, awe, wonder, rapture, gratitude, and love. In an insightful and compellingly readable introduction, D.J. Moores accounts for the enduring appeal of ecstatic verse in a cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary discussion of ecstasy in its many contexts. Ecstasy is relevant not only as a valuable psychological state but also as a major social issue, an interesting historical problem, and the informing spirit of the arts and religion. The ecstatic tradition, as he demonstrates, haunts the contemporary era as the specter of human fulfillment.Endorsements"Can an anthology of poetry be called a 'breakthrough'? This one is. For over a century, canonical literature in general and poetry in particular have been prisoners of an academic posture which elevates the voices of despair, depression, and alienation to high culture, and relegates those of optimism, joy, and well-being to the superficial and ill-informed. D.J. Moores, in a courageous departure from this convention, has crafted a soaring collection of exuberant, joyful, and ecstatic verse. The general reader must be grateful to him for envisioning nothing less than a 'Positive Humanities.'" MARTIN SELIGMAN, Fox Leadership, Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and former President of the American Psychological Association"While teaching Dante's Paradiso, I kidded the class that I was done with 'critique.' I wanted to take up 'Paradise Studies.' This anthology is a lot closer than I thought scholarship and good taste were likely to come to such studies. Its rendering of the varieties of ecstatic experience is as thrilling as it is informative." CHARLES ALTIERI, Professor of English at the University of California-Berkeley and author of The Particulars of Rapture"Sometimes both ordinary language and the language of science fail to capture what we experience, what we want to say, to speak of or about. So it is with ecstatic experience. D.J. Moores has given us a treasure trove, a book meant for grazing, for feeling one's way into the poetic language in which, near as we can, commonplace experiences of unusual positive states of mind can be met, evoked, recalled, and valued in the ways they deserve in a rich, meaningful human life." OWEN FLANAGAN, James B. Duke Professor of Philosophy and Neurobiology at Duke University, former President of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, and author of The Nature of Consciousness

In much of the critical discourse of the seventies, eighties, and nineties, scholars employed suspicion in order to reveal a given text's complicity with various undesirable ideologies and/or psychopathologies. Construed as such, interpretive practice was often intended to demystify texts and authors by demonstrating in them the presence of false consciousness, bourgeois values, patriarchy, orientalism, heterosexism, imperialist attitudes, and/or various neuroses, complexes, and lacks. While it proved to be of vital importance in literary studies, suspicious hermeneutics often compelled scholars to interpret eudaimonia, or well-being variously conceived, in pathologized terms. At the end of the twentieth century, however, literary scholars began to see the limitations of suspicion, conceived primarily as the discernment of latent realities beneath manifest illusions. In the last decade, often termed the "post-theory era," there was a radical shift in focus, as scholars began to recognize the inapplicability of suspicion as a critical framework for discussions of eudaimonic experiences, seeking out several alternative forms of critique, most of which can be called, despite their differences, a hermeneutics of affirmation. In such alternative reading strategies scholars were able to explore configurations of eudaimonia, not by dismissing them as bad politics or psychopathology but in complex ways that have resulted in a new eudaimonic turn, a trans-disciplinary phenomenon that has also enriched several other disciplines. The Eudaimonic Turn builds on such work, offering a collection of essays intended to bolster the burgeoning critical framework in the fields of English, Comparative Literature, and Cultural Studies by stimulating discussions of well-being in the "post-theory" moment. The volume consists of several examinations of literary and theoretical configurations of the following determinants of human subjectivity and the role these play in facilitating well-being: values, race, ethics/morality, aesthetics, class, ideology, culture, economics, language, gender, spirituality, sexuality, nature, and the body. Many of the authors compelling refute negativity bias and pathologized interpretations of eudaimonic experiences or conceptual models as they appear in literary texts or critical theories. Some authors examine the eudaimonic outcomes of suffering, marginalization, hybridity, oppression, and/or tragedy, while others analyze the positive effects of positive affect. Still others analyze the aesthetic response and/or the reading process in inquiries into the role of language use and its impact on well-being, or they explore the complexities of strength, resilience, and other positive character traits in the face of struggle, suffering, and "othering."

In much of the critical discourse of the seventies, eighties, and nineties, scholars employed suspicion in order to reveal a given text's complicity with various undesirable ideologies and/or psychopathologies. Construed as such, interpretive practice was often intended to demystify texts and authors by demonstrating in them the presence of false consciousness, bourgeois values, patriarchy, orientalism, heterosexism, imperialist attitudes, and/or various neuroses, complexes, and lacks. While it proved to be of vital importance in literary studies, suspicious hermeneutics often compelled scholars to interpret eudaimonia, or well-being variously conceived, in pathologized terms. At the end of the twentieth century, however, literary scholars began to see the limitations of suspicion, conceived primarily as the discernment of latent realities beneath manifest illusions. In the last decade, often termed the "post-theory era," there was a radical shift in focus, as scholars began to recognize the inapplicability of suspicion as a critical framework for discussions of eudaimonic experiences, seeking out several alternative forms of critique, most of which can be called, despite their differences, a hermeneutics of affirmation. In such alternative reading strategies scholars were able to explore configurations of eudaimonia, not by dismissing them as bad politics or psychopathology but in complex ways that have resulted in a new eudaimonic turn, a trans-disciplinary phenomenon that has also enriched several other disciplines. The Eudaimonic Turn builds on such work, offering a collection of essays intended to bolster the burgeoning critical framework in the fields of English, Comparative Literature, and Cultural Studies by stimulating discussions of well-being in the "post-theory" moment. The volume consists of several examinations of literary and theoretical configurations of the following determinants of human subjectivity and the role these play in facilitating well-being: values, race, ethics/morality, aesthetics, class, ideology, culture, economics, language, gender, spirituality, sexuality, nature, and the body. Many of the authors compelling refute negativity bias and pathologized interpretations of eudaimonic experiences or conceptual models as they appear in literary texts or critical theories. Some authors examine the eudaimonic outcomes of suffering, marginalization, hybridity, oppression, and/or tragedy, while others analyze the positive effects of positive affect. Still others analyze the aesthetic response and/or the reading process in inquiries into the role of language use and its impact on well-being, or they explore the complexities of strength, resilience, and other positive character traits in the face of struggle, suffering, and "othering."