PIERCING INTO THE PSYCHE - the Poetry of Francis Webb, with a select Concordance of Keywords and Keynotes

There are two main themes in Webb's poetry taken as a whole: the first is the identity problem, in social and existential terms. This is explored by a psychological study developed partly from the biographical data I have collected as a result of talking to people, including doctors, who knew Webb personally, and from the few references in articles and other biographical material. The second is complementary to the first and converges on the myth of Christ. The book is divided into three chapters: Chapter I, "The Alienated Identity"; this focuses mainly on the progression in Webb's poetry of his feelings of separateness from society; the language will reveal the presence in the imagery of pairs of opposites. Chapter II, "Towards the Creation of a Personal Myth", and Chapter III, "The struggle for Survival", are more comprehensive and open Webb's career from maturity to the end of his poetic activity. The titles draw attention to the transformation of his creative genius from a mythico-religious into a mythic phenomenon, as a result of his complete endorsement of the myth of Christ.