I travell'd thro' a land of men,
A land of men and women too;
And heard and saw such dreadful things
As cold earth-wanderers never knew.
According to Harold Bloom, the Traveller seems to be “a wandering Eternal, who has visited the fallen world and is able so to stand back from it as to see its horrific cycle” ( The Visionary Company , 1961, 58-59). The land through which he wanders is fantastical, allegorical, almost an alien planet, but it’s also our own world of alternating grief and joy, suffering and redemption.
The Mental Traveller