John Cowper Powys and William Blake
John Cowper Powys and William Blake
Both John Cowper Powys and William Blake produced extensive bodies of work during their lifetimes. It might, therefore, seem an ambitious project to set out to discuss one in relation to the other. Each has also been subject to a cornucopia of ‘treatments’: literary, philosophical, psychological, historical – and the rest. Add to all this, that my own Gnostic approach itself involves a difficult and contested area of theological and esoteric history, and it would appear that my quest is doomed to failure. But, I continue. . . .
In this article I discuss Powys and Blake with respect to a series of salient features of their published writings (and paintings in the case of Blake). The fact that I consider Blake a Gnostic, and the philosophy underpinning Gnosticism as the key to understanding his sense and meaning, consequently entails me bringing the same perspective to Powys in comparing their respective works.
John Cowper Powys, William Blake, Gnosticism, Creativity
119-145
Grenfell, Michael
3f1954ca-ee82-46df-bd31-0b6c9c390ab1
1 June 2023
Grenfell, Michael
3f1954ca-ee82-46df-bd31-0b6c9c390ab1
Grenfell, Michael
(2023)
John Cowper Powys and William Blake.
The Powys Journal, 33, .
Abstract
Both John Cowper Powys and William Blake produced extensive bodies of work during their lifetimes. It might, therefore, seem an ambitious project to set out to discuss one in relation to the other. Each has also been subject to a cornucopia of ‘treatments’: literary, philosophical, psychological, historical – and the rest. Add to all this, that my own Gnostic approach itself involves a difficult and contested area of theological and esoteric history, and it would appear that my quest is doomed to failure. But, I continue. . . .
In this article I discuss Powys and Blake with respect to a series of salient features of their published writings (and paintings in the case of Blake). The fact that I consider Blake a Gnostic, and the philosophy underpinning Gnosticism as the key to understanding his sense and meaning, consequently entails me bringing the same perspective to Powys in comparing their respective works.
Text
27223427
- Version of Record
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 1 June 2023
Published date: 1 June 2023
Keywords:
John Cowper Powys, William Blake, Gnosticism, Creativity
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 486159
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/486159
PURE UUID: ba6a6e9b-8135-4bce-95e0-eebe35b9a1f3
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 11 Jan 2024 17:49
Last modified: 28 Mar 2024 02:32
Export record
Contributors
Author:
Michael Grenfell
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics