The New Mythology of John Cowper Powys

THE NEW MYTHOLOGY OF

JOHN COWPER POWYS

THIS LECTURE is not concerned. with literary criticism. Much has been said about Powys’ place among the writers of our time, but this is not my present subject. I intend to take a totally different view of his writings.

Those of you who have read any of his works or have read about his life and writings in the many books and articles that have been published will know that he takes a very special and unique view of man’s life.

Throughout his long working life, from his early poems published in 1896 to his last book which appeared in 1960 when he was 87, it is possible to trace the development of this Powys philosophy. His view of the individual and of the meaning and purpose of man’s life is significant in relation to a particular current of thought through the 19th and 2oth centuries. This current has been far too little recognised and appreciated but will undoubtedly be seen as increasingly relevant for the future.

With a background through his father, who was a parson, of the usual Victorian family life, with a conventional education at Sherborne and Cambridge, he nevertheless became a most original thinker with most distinctive ideas. As a lecturer for many years on literature he not only became acquainted with the world’s great writers but took their works deeply into his experience. This formed an important and essential ground for the development of his own life and work.