Welsh Journals

I wrote the introduction to the very substantial selection of his verse published by Yr Academi Gymreig to celebrate his eightieth birthday, 'Detholion'. I had let slip the dread word 'symbolaidd' somewhere in the course of this introduction, and when I next met him, at some literary bunfight, he bellowed at me across a crowded room, 'I am not a Symbolist poet!' It was a vital distinction and I wasn't likely to forget it. For all that Canon Allchin does refer to him as having 'more the appearance of a boxer than the conventional image of a scholar or a poet', the thing I miss just a little in this admirable volume is the impish mischief with which Euros Bowen chose to present himself to the world, especially in his later years. He was always assertive, aggressive, verbally pugilistic, fond of confrontation if he were one of the three adjudicators for one of the major Eisteddfod literary prizes, you could lay a firm bet on Euros disagreeing with the other two. But as he grew older, I have a feeling that at some crucial moment in time he decided that he would wear the mask of an irascible old man perhaps in the mould of Guto'r Glyn deaf when he chose to be, mildly outrageous in his rejection of normal conventions regarding public behaviour. (None of us is likely to forget his set-to with Hugh McDiarmid in Lampeter once upon a time). Behind all this was a warmth, a faithfulness to friends and a truly quirky humour which made things happen when Euros was around. But then it was not the business of this volume to record such things. It was rather to draw attention to the fact that the Church in Wales possessed in Euros Bowen a major religious poet writing in a language not understood of the majority of the people. In this it has succeeded and has made his searching poetic intellect accessible to many more questioning minds. The image of the square, punchy little man tilting against the windmills of Welsh life with a glint of mischief in his eye is simply an additional bonus that those of us who knew him have learnt to treasure. R. GERALLT JONES University of Wales, Gregynog.