Since 1988 Evelyn Underhill has been commemorated in the Episcopalian Calendar, the closest that denomination comes to canonization. She was the first woman to lecture on religion at Oxford University and the first laywoman to lead retreats in the Anglican Church, opportunities that arose because of her books on mysticism. Their reputation still keeps in print her religious poetry (despite its no-longer fashionable style). Indeed, during her lifetime, her fame probably was a significant factor in the decision by Ernest Benn Limited to reprint in 1932 some of her devotional lyrics as part of its Augustan Books of Poetry series. Her verses are less appreciated in their own right than as part of her vision of psychological development toward mysticism. She herself abandoned writing poetry, saying that it was too easy. Poetry, nonetheless, was her primary avenue to the aesthetic, and coupled with the social work she did in the...