Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-18
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
THE MEANING OF CULTURE. John
CoWper Powys. w. w. Norton &
I. C. NJ.

| THE MEANING OF CULTURE. John
Cowper Powys. w. w. Norton &
Co.
Among the oldest of stories, told in
many and diverse ways OF speech. The
story of him who ransacked the earth
! for a hidden treasure OF wide renoWn.
| And did not find 1t. Home again
strange happening his own
doorsill lay that which. far and wide.
he had so sedulously, and vainly,
sought.
| Moralists and lesson -mongers, up to
| this very day, make use OF that ancient
| tale to foster contentment, to still
shutting feet overready to be off and
away, to hold back the eager breast
riding so hard the CALLING yoke of ad-
monition and restraint.
Butt is a thin story that does not
hold at least two lessons. II lesson be
! the end-all. Let us shake this familiar
| one again for another possible outcome.
| And here it is. Listen: Is 1t not likely
| that If this seeker had stayed at home
he never would have discovered the
treasure actually lying under foot? Had
! he not Jared out, had he not taken
upon his tongue the many savors of
| life--the honey and the gall, the sweet
and the bitter of a world so breath
lessly beautiful, so monstrously terrible
If these together had not worked
within him as a new knowledge, new
| values, new feelings, would he have
found ever, that precious thing, SO long
unseen and undivined?
Here comes John Cowper Powys. In
| his scrip that old-new tale of the far
quest and the nearby finding. And now
he is undoing the budget that he car
ried in his scrip. Within 1t lies the
! treasure-culture. A thing to be ex-
amined, tasted, weighed, applied-and,
| just maybe, captured.
A hypnotizlng word, culture" A
word misty in its own nebulae, all in
flux and flow of shift and change
and quick elusion. Yet it casts its spell
| not only over him who already has
some little grip upon its substance, but
over him as well to whom 1t Is yet but
goal of desire. Often do we handle
this magic word, passing 1t from palm
to palm from right to left, in a way
of measuring it. of appraising the
| reality within. Is it learning that makes
many a one solidly compact OF erudi-
ton gives sorry evidence. Is 1t wealth?
No, not wealth alone, nor travel alone.
/ nor high company alone. None OF
these by itself. And, maybe. not all
| of them together, even, can discover
and claim this treasure.
| 4 + +
"I'm searching for culture, John
Powys. Where shall I find it and
how?" And he answered me, Would
YOU know it II you we're to meet 1t face
| to face out on the open road or in the
shadows of some lone by-path2, Would
you know its face. its mien, that which
1t was holding out to you with free
and giving hand? Would you?" I
| fear that II I we're so to meet that
benign being, John Powys. I would not
be aware of it," "Sit here with me-
and he began to finger the scroll that
was slipping from his scrip.
And that was the way of it. In such
/ company and under such guidance
/ was led out to meet this long sought
being. TO learn to identify 1t by its ma
| ture as well as by name alone. Upon
this adventure, John Powys led me
through p hilosophies, old and new,
into literature and poetry, into paint
ing and religion. oh, not for any deep
plumbing of thesel Rather for q re-
| gathering of them for reader seizure
Of the spirit of culture that had hous-
ing within them. Rather, for a re-
/ harvesting of their fragranceS and es-
Sences, for their breathings of beauty
! so Subtly penetrating as to sink deep
| into the inmost of the person himself
| into you and me standing by and
waiting-maybe unconsciously, but wait
ing, nevertheless, for the enrichment
which these things offer. which such
wide visions Of life secure.
| A. great adventure. A quiet man,
this one in whose company I am. A
| gentle-Voiced man. waywise to the
thoughts of genius everywhere, at home
With great human revelations. A good
deal OF q poet, besides-a quite fearless
| poet who dares to be either believer
| or an unbeliever, who dares-if war
rant there be-to stand apart from
the many or to draw near to the lone
one Patient, too-infinitely patient
toward everything in Gods great world
save only toward cruelty in its
countless evil ways. And toward that
he is savage. An amazing and beau
tiful outgoing, this one with John
Cowper Powys. And coming back
home-there 1t was, the treasure. Or,
at least. there was the source Of 1t,
the seed Of 1t right in my own hand,
| right in your own hand.
This wide journeying made 1t I'M
mistakably clear that culture is an in
| dividual concern. It does not come by
class or caste or formal rote. It is
not in hiding across the world. It is,
instead. exactly where we are, you and
I. 1t is within that deep self Of which
We are so conscious. Soul. II you will
Ego, II you choose. In either case it
| Is the very Utmost OF each of us. that
self so dimly conscious of the wonder
OF life. so quivering with the reality OF
the unreal, sensing family the far and
mystic as the near and familiar. The
seed OF religion, philosophy, all art,
including the art of life itSelf-all here,
ready TO open out under the enrich
ing miracle and loneliness of life into
appreciations of aching poignancy, into
comprehenSions of vast significance.
\ y
From this adventure so rich In ex-
perience, so vital in its personal appli-
cation, John Cowper Powys settles to
the taSk-to the pleaSurable task, 1t is
plain-of bringing the fruits Of this out
Iaring right up to the daily matter
OF being alive. What will this cultural
expansion have to do with human hap
piness-with love, with the many rela-
lions existing among men, business re-
lationS, social, whatnot? How will it
AFFECT ones interest in nature and what
enrichment will it bring to such in
tereSt? How will it influence reading,
In the choice OF this, in its reception,
in the ripening and mellowing that il
grants and converts into stronger and
more beautiful behaviors toward the
rest or the world? And, as warming
here are set down some of the him
ORANGES to the free growth in culture
You know these. They are on every
hand. Better stay by the Illuminating
things that Mr.. Powys, out of his own
culture and wisdom, out of his own in
sight, has to say about the finding and
the cherishing of this great treasure.
You know, poet can be as prac-
teal as the next one. This poet is.
He says plain things that go right
against the most of nIlr rasnncted fnre.