Surprised by Hope: Possibilities of Spiritual Experience in Victorian Lyric Poetry
Religions February 25, 2025 Denae Dyck
Poetry can evoke spiritual experiences by opening readers to surprise and wonder, moving beyond the divide between religious faith and doubt. Drawing on William James's Varieties of Religious Experience and Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics, this article argues that Victorian lyrics by Thomas Hardy, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Dollie Radford reimagine hope and reframe revelation as an invitation rather than a proclamation. The analysis shows how receptivity to spiritual states in literature challenges the hermeneutics of suspicion and suggests an interpretive disposition that does not guard against but welcomes poetry's potential to transform.