Why Owen Barfield Called the World "The Secret-Breathing World"

“This is more Elvish than anything. I feel as if I was inside a song."

But many times, the secret-breathing world
Whispers to thee, yet whispers with a voice
Which memory shall warehouse as a shout.

From “The Tower” by Owen Barfield

This world is breathing secrets, but we often don’t hear its whispers until something amplifies them for us into a shout.

It can be a memory, a line of poetry, a sound, an experience – in fact, any…