SOURCE: "The Vision of 1821 and Lamartine's Philosophy" and "Unanimism and Lamartine's Metaphysics (1821-1830)," in Lamartine and Romantic Unanimism, Columbia University Press, 1940, pp. 12-29, pp. 30-66.

In the following excerpt from his study of Lamartine 's belief in the oneness of the universe, George finds evidence of Lamartine 's mystical outlook in his poetic works and aesthetic principles.

It happened on January 10, 1821, near Naples, while Lamartine was strolling down the streets of his beloved Italy. Head bowed, he was mulling over plans for an immortal work, the great Christian epic that the centuries had so far failed to produce. As he thought about God and the purpose of Creation, his pace slackened and, suddenly, the divine grace descended on him as it had on Descartes and Pascal. A hand seemed to brush aside a curtain from the night sky, and an intense vision transported him beyond reality….

During this...