Fascinating essay, Tim. Thanks for posting it.
I am still reading it, but I think the author might have taken a wrong turn with his interpreation of "Hylas". This is not, I think, a mythical reference in Wilbur's poem, but an allusion to Berkley's character Hylas in his Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous in Opposition to Sceptics and Atheists. Hylas (from the Greek Hyle - or "matter") represents the materialist position in the dialogues, and Philonous ("lover of Mind") represents the metaphysical. So "Hylas' tree" is simply the objective tree, according to materialism.
[This message has been edited by Mark Allinson (edited August 04, 2007).]
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