On Poetry and Philosophy

“In his trenchant readings of the poetry of Wordsworth and the philosophy of Kant, Brayton Polka deconstructs the traditional opposition between poetry and philosophy by demonstrating that human existence is metaphorical, not reducible to false idols that appear natural or literal in meaning. True poetry and philosophy arise out of the biblical imperative that human beings must interpret each other as moral subjects, not as natural objects, in accord with the love of God and humanity.”


—Grant Havers, Trinity Western University





“In this erudite, yet accessible, study of the deeper relationship between poetry, philosophy, and religion, Brayton Polka demonstrates once again why he is a master of interdisciplinary scholarship. By way of a brilliant analysis of two important pioneers of modernity, Immanuel Kant and William Wordsworth, Polka shows how the language of philosophy and poetry are ultimately metaphorical in nature, as they both transport readers from the finite natural world to the infinite world of spirit.”


—Bernard Lightman, York University