A Stick in the Mud

Kenneth Clark, in the conclusion to his Civilisation series, said the following after affirming W. B. Yeats’ poem The Second Coming, “the trouble is that there is still no centre”.[1] It can be contended that there was ‘no centre’ in Yeats’ time nor during the Second World War and in 1969 as Clark expresses; is there no centre today either? There has always been a ‘centre’ though whether it is discernible is another matter.[2] I believe there is a link between the ‘centre’ and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, among other concepts such as the Holy Grail, in much the same way as René Guénon did.[3] Therefore, it is interesting that Lord Clark, as he became later in life, joined the Catholic Church on his deathbed, and for anyone who has watched Civilisation this may seem fitting. It is of little matter that he only returned to Rome before the end of his mortal life because by doing so he can spend his immortal life there. ‘Heroic materialism’ as Clarke called it will not do yet within Catholicism we can find – indeed recover, restore and glorify – that ‘centre’ that was lost.

I shall return to this subject at a later date with a piece on the Sacred Heart.

[1] Kenneth Clark: ‘A Stick in the Mud…’

[2] See the works of the Traditionalist School, especially the principle thinkers principal thinkers in this tradition are René Guénon, Ananda Coomaraswamy and Frithjof Schuon.

[3] See Guénon’s Insights into Christian Esoterism and Symbols of the Sacred Science among other works.