The Seasons of the Soul

Vowing at an early age to be a poet or nothing at all Hermann Hesse rebelled against formal education focusing on a rigorous program of independent study that included literature philosophy art and history. One result of these efforts was a series of novels that became counterculture bibles that remain widely influential today. Another was a body of evocative spiritual poetry. Published for the first time in English these vivid probing short works reflect deeply on the challenges of life and provide a spiritual solace that transcends specific denominational hymns prayers and rituals. The Seasons of the Soul offers valuable guidance in poetic form for those longing for a more meaningful life seeking a sense of homecoming in nature in each stage of life in a renewed relationship with the divine. Extensive quotations from his prose introduce each theme addressed in the book: love imagination nature the divine and the passage of time. A foreword by Andrew Harvey reintroduces us to a figure about whom some may have believed everything had already been said. Thoughtful commentary throughout from translator Ludwig Max Fischer helps readers understand the poems within the context of Hesse s life.