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West, Morris

(Encyclopedia)West, Morris (Morris Langlo West), 1916–99, Australian novelist, b. Melbourne. West's novels often reveal an interest in both Roman Catholicism and international politics, as reflected in his best-s...

Spieghel, Hendrick Laurenszoon

(Encyclopedia)Spieghel, Hendrick Laurenszoon hĕnˈdrək louˈrənszōnˌ spēˈkhəl [key], 1549–1612, Dutch poet. In his cycle of spiritual songs Lieden Op't Vader Ons (modern ed. 1957), he was among the first ...

Bhagavad-Gita

(Encyclopedia)Bhagavad-Gita bŭgˈəvəd-gēˈtə [key] [Skt.,=song of the Lord], Sanskrit poem incorporated into the Mahabharata, one of the greatest religious classics of Hinduism. The Gita (as it is often called...

African music

(Encyclopedia)African music, the music of the indigenous peoples of Africa. Sub-Saharan African music has as its distinguishing feature a rhythmic complexity common to no other region. Polyrhythmic counterpoint, wh...

yoga

(Encyclopedia)yoga yōˈgə [key] [Skt.,=union], general term for spiritual disciplines in Hinduism, Buddhism, and throughout S Asia that are directed toward attaining higher consciousness and liberation from ignor...

Grade, Chaim

(Encyclopedia)Grade, Chaim khīəm grädˈə [key], 1910–82, Lithuanian novelist and poet. Grade, who wrote in Yiddish, became one of the prominant members of an experimental writers' group during the 1930s. Afte...

Gawain, Sir

(Encyclopedia)Gawain, Sir gäˈwān, –wĭn [key], one of the most popular heroes of Arthurian legend; nephew of King Arthur. He was regarded, particularly in the early romances, as the model of chivalry—pure, b...

Gellert, Christian Fürchtegott

(Encyclopedia)Gellert, Christian Fürchtegott krĭsˈtyän fürkhˈtəgôt gĕlˈərt [key], 1715–69, German poet and moralist. His best-known works are Fabeln und Erzählungen (1746–48, tr. Fables and Other Po...

Nerval, Gérard de

(Encyclopedia)Nerval, Gérard de zhārärˈ də nĕrvälˈ [key], 1808–55, French writer, an early romantic. His real name was Gérard Labrunie. His writings include translations of Faust (1828) and other German ...

Unity

(Encyclopedia)Unity, religious movement incorporated as the Unity School of Christianity, with headquarters at Lee's Summit, Mo. Although the movement used the name Unity after 1891, it was founded earlier by Charl...