James Baird was a professor of English at Connecticut College. He also wrote The Dome and the Rock: Structure in the Poetry of Wallace Stevens.

• IntroductionAcknowledgementsA Note on Documentation and TranslationPart I. The Nature of Recent Primitivism Chapter 1. Primitivism and Cultural Failure Chapter 2. Perdita: The volcanic CenterPart II. Ishmael: The Westward MarinerChapter 3. Melville's Pacific Voyages: An Evaluation Chapter 4. The Perpetuity of Ishmael Part III. Avatars: Symbols of Reincarnation from the OrientChapter 5. Obsession with the Primeval EastChapter 6. Puer Aeternus: Eternal InnocenceChapter 7. Polynesian EthosChapter 8. WhitenessChapter 9. Shadows and Erotic SymbolsChapter 10. Tree and CrossChapter 11. The Dragon WhalePart IV. Images from the Urwelt: The World Before Civilization Chapter 12. The Sea and Aqueous ImagesChapter 13. Original Nature Part V. Entombment: Christianity Revisited Chapter 14. The Infernal CityChapter 15. The Holy SepulchreIndex

James Baird was a professor of English at Connecticut College. He also wrote The Dome and the Rock: Structure in the Poetry of Wallace Stevens.

• IntroductionAcknowledgementsA Note on Documentation and TranslationPart I. The Nature of Recent Primitivism Chapter 1. Primitivism and Cultural Failure Chapter 2. Perdita: The volcanic CenterPart II. Ishmael: The Westward MarinerChapter 3. Melville's Pacific Voyages: An Evaluation Chapter 4. The Perpetuity of Ishmael Part III. Avatars: Symbols of Reincarnation from the OrientChapter 5. Obsession with the Primeval EastChapter 6. Puer Aeternus: Eternal InnocenceChapter 7. Polynesian EthosChapter 8. WhitenessChapter 9. Shadows and Erotic SymbolsChapter 10. Tree and CrossChapter 11. The Dragon WhalePart IV. Images from the Urwelt: The World Before Civilization Chapter 12. The Sea and Aqueous ImagesChapter 13. Original Nature Part V. Entombment: Christianity Revisited Chapter 14. The Infernal CityChapter 15. The Holy SepulchreIndex