Illusion and Reality

his book is not only about poetry but also about the sources of poetry.Poetry is written in language and therefore it is a book about the sources of language. language is a social product, the instrument whereby men communicate and persuade each other; thus the study of poetry's sources cannot be separated from the study of society. It is a common assumption of literary criticism that the sources of literature are irrelevant or unimportant , and that can be completely criticized in terms of literature. There was for some time a similar philosophy about the study of nature - the mechanical materialism of d Holbach, adopted unconsciously by most scientists today.