Force within him to the utmost of his power. It is what
he is here for, and only so can he bring help and light to his
fellow-men.[51] And Carlyle, with Browning, believes that it is not the
actual deeds accomplished that matter, no man may judge of these, for
"man is the spirit he worked in; not what he did, but what he became."

Chapter V

Devotional and Religious Mystics

All mystics are devotional and all are religious in the truest sense of
the terms. Yet it seems legitimate to group under this special heading
those writers whose views are expressed largely in the language of the
Christian religion, as is the case with our earliest mystics, with
Crashaw and Francis Thompson and it applies in some measure to Blake.
But beyond this, it seems, in more general terms, to apply specially to
those who are so conscious of God that they seem to live in His
presence, and who are chiefly concerned with approaching Him, not by way
of Love, Beauty, Wisdom, or Nature, but directly, through purgation and
adoration.

This description, it is obvious, though it fits fairly well the other
writers here included, by no means suffices for Blake. For he possessed
in addition a philosophy, a system, and a profound scheme of the
universe revealed to him in vision. But within what category could Blake
be imprisoned? He outsoars them all and includes them all. We can only
say that the dominant impression he leaves with us that is of his
vivid, intimate consciousness of the Divine presence and his attitude of
devotion.

We have seen that the earliest mystical thought came into this country
by way of the writings of "Dionysius" and of the Victorines (Hugh and
Richard of St Victor), and it is this type of thought and belief cast
into the mould of the Catholic Church that we find mainly in the little
group of early English mystics, whose writings date from the middle of
the thirteenth to the beginning of the fifteenth century.[52]

These early Catholic mystics are interesting from a psychological point
of view, and they are often subtle exponents of the deepest mystical
truths and teachings, and in some cases this is combined with great
literary power and beauty.

One of the earliest examples of this thought in English literature is
the tender and charming lyric by Thomas de Hales, written probably
before 1240. Here is perhaps the first expression in our poetry of
passionate yearning of the soul towards Christ as her true lover