On Human Flourishing

D. J. Moores is an associate professor of literature at National University in San Diego, California, USA. He is the author of numerous books examining the intersections of literature, psychology, and religion. James O. Pawelski is a senior scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, USA serving as founding director of the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program and founding executive director of the International Positive Psychology Association. Adam Potkay is the William R. Kenan Professor of Humanities at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. He has written many books and articles on literature and human flourishing. Emma Mason is a professor of English and comparative literary studies at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England. She has authored and edited numerous books. Susan J. Wolfson is a professor of English at Princeton University, USA and former president of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. She has edited numerous books on the study of poetry. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey. James Engel is Gurney Professor of English and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University, USA and former President of The Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. A scholar of Romanticism and 18th-century studies, he has authored and edited numerous books.

acknowledgments vi

About the Editors xiii

Introduction by D.J. Moores 1

Cycle 1. Wisdom 29

Cycle 2. Pride, ­Self-Love and Resilience 40

Cycle 3. Ecstasy, Elevation and Rapture 50

Cycle 4. Consciousness Expansion, Growth and Engagement with Unconscious Depths 67

Cycle 5. Romantic Love and Lust 84

Cycle 6. Language, Inspiration and the Imagination 103

Cycle 7. Relatedness to the Environment, Flora and Fauna 126

Cycle 8. Hope, Optimism and Idealism 155

Cycle 9. Childhood, Innocence, Wonder and Awe 167

Cycle 10. Sensory Delights, Vitality and Mindfulness 185

Cycle 11. Love, Gratitude, Compassion and Relatedness to Others 212

Cycle 12. Relatedness to the Sacred 234

Cycle 13. Justice, Righteous Anger and ­Self-Determination 248

Cycle 14. Unity, Meaning, Serenity and Enchantment 262

Notes and Bibliography 279

Index of First Lines 289

Index of Poets 293