I intended to read this book for a term paper about John Donne, for an Intro. to Poetry class I'm taking. Unfortunately, Clements' writing is way over my head. In order to follow his reasoning, I'd need to know and understand Platonian and Neo-platonian theories, Dante's works, and more. It was recommended to me by someone with an extensive background in English literature, who considers this a good read. If you're up on Dante and Plato, and you already know a lot about poetry, this academic book might be for you. Despite my interest in Clement's topic, I'm giving up on reading the book.