Euros Bowen: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Welsh poet and clergyman (1904–1988)}} |
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Born in [[Treorchy]], and a brother of the poet [[Geraint Bowen (poet)|Geraint Bowen]], he was educated at the [[Presbyterian College, Carmarthen]], and later at the [[University of Wales]] (initially at [[University College, Aberystwyth]], before transferring to [[University College, Swansea]]), [[Mansfield College, Oxford]] and [[St Catherine's College, Oxford]]. Although he initially intended to become a Nonconformist minister, he converted to [[Anglicanism]] as a student. After more study at [[University of Wales, Lampeter|St David's College, Lampeter]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=UWTSD |first=Web Development Team – |title=Reverend Euros Bowen {{!}} UWTSD |url=https://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/library/special-collections/200-biographies-celebrating-lampeters-bicentenary/literature/reverend-euros-bowen/ |access-date=18 April 2023 |website=www.uwtsd.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> he was ordained as a [[priest]] of the [[Church in Wales]], serving from 1934 to 1938 as [[curate]] of [[Wrexham]], then as [[rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of [[Llanuwchllyn]] with [[Llangywer]], on the shore of Lake Bala in [[Merionethshire]]. He retired from these parishes in 1973.<ref>''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 1973–74, Oxford University Press</ref> He spent the remainder of his life in Wrexham. |
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Euros Bowen was the brother of poet [[Geraint Bowen (poet)|Geraint Bowen]]. From [[Treorchy]] in the [[Rhondda]], he was educated in the Presbyterian College at [[Carmarthen]], and later at the [[University of Wales]] and [[University of Oxford]]. He became an Anglican clergyman and was eventually Rector of Llanuwchllyn in [[Merionethshire]]. He retired to [[Wrexham]]. |
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Euros Bowen began writing poetry in earnest in 1947, during the heavy winter which left him snowbound in his rectory. In many ways a "late bloomer", for he did not publish his first volume of poetry until he was in his early 50s, he at once became notable for the way in which he developed the traditional metres of Welsh poetry. Compared by some with the writing of [[T. Gwynn Jones]], who was also seen as a moderniser of Welsh prosody,<ref>''Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales'', 1986, OUP.</ref> Bowen's early work (collected in ''Cerddi'' – 'Poems' – in 1957) is dense with layered imagery, and whilst later on he moved into free verse, it is actually difficult to chart his development in a linear way.<ref>Jones, G. & Rowlands J, 1980. ''Profiles: an Account of Welsh and English Language Writers in Wales Today'', Llandysul: Gomer.</ref> Although the work in his first book is rich with form and form experiment, his second; ''Cerddi Rhydd'' (Free Verses, published 1961) dispenses with all formal devices and is made up of prose proems in the manner of [[Arthur Rimbaud|Rimbaud]]. Not only was Bowen responsible for bringing into Welsh poetry influences from mainland Europe which effectively revolutionised the medium – in this he is in many ways to Welsh literature what [[T. S. Eliot]] and [[Ezra Pound]] were to English – he is also of considerable interest in British poetry because his work with [[prose poem]]s anticipates that of [[Geoffrey Hill]] (in ''Mercian Hymns'') by a clear decade.<ref>Hill, G. 1985, ''Collected Poems''. London: Viking</ref> Although there are some skeins in his work which are reminiscent of [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]] (he translated a selection of French Symbolist poets into Welsh) and of a kind of [[Imagism]], Bowen always thought of himself as a [[Sacramentalist]] and believed the images in his poems communicated as signs. Comparable in stature with his fellow priest-poet [[R. S. Thomas]], Bowen is, nevertheless, considerably more celebratory in tone, and the transformations in nature, as he sees them, often appear as communicating a personal revelation. |
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Euros Bowen won the bardic Crown at the [[National Eisteddfod of Wales]] in [[1948]] and the Chair in [[1950]]. |
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In the year after he retired Bowen published a selection of his poems, which included not only the Welsh-language originals but parallel English versions in verse.<ref>Bowen, E. 1974. ''Poems'', Llandysul: Gomer.</ref> His poems have also been translated by [[R. Gerallt Jones]] and the American [[Joseph P. Clancy]], among others.<ref>Jones, R. Gerallt, 1975. ''Poetry of Wales, 1930–70'', Llandysul: Gomer.</ref><ref>Clancy, Joseph P. 1982. ''Twentieth Century Welsh Poems'', Llandysul: Gomer.</ref> |
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===Works=== |
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Euros Bowen won the bardic Crown at the [[National Eisteddfod of Wales]] in 1948 for ''O'r Dwyrain'', and again in 1950 for ''Difodiant''.<ref>Davies, John; [[Nigel Jenkins|Jenkins, Nigel]]; Baines, Menna & Lynch, Peredur ''The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales''. (2008) p. 77 {{ISBN|978-0-7083-1953-6}}</ref> |
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He edited the literary journal ''[[Fflam|Y Fflam]]'' from 1946 to 1952.<ref>''Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales'' (1986), p. 199.</ref> |
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== Selected later works== |
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*''Lleidr Tân'' |
*''Lleidr Tân'' |
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*''Buarth Bywyd'' |
*''Buarth Bywyd'' |
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*''Trin Cerddi'' |
*''Trin Cerddi'' |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==Sources== |
==Sources== |
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*''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' entry: Patrick Thomas, ‘Bowen, Euros (1904–1988)’, first published |
*''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' entry: Patrick Thomas, ‘Bowen, Euros (1904–1988)’, first published September 2004, 690 words |
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[[Category:1904 births]] |
[[Category:1904 births]] |
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[[Category:1988 deaths]] |
[[Category:1988 deaths]] |
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[[Category:Alumni of |
[[Category:Alumni of Aberystwyth University]] |
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[[Category:Alumni of |
[[Category:Alumni of Swansea University]] |
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[[Category:Alumni of Mansfield College, Oxford]] |
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[[Category:Anglican poets]] |
[[Category:Anglican poets]] |
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[[Category:People from Treorchy]] |
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[[Category:Welsh |
[[Category:20th-century Welsh Anglican priests]] |
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[[Category:20th-century Welsh poets]] |
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[[Category:Alumni of the University of Wales, Lampeter]] |
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[[cy:Euros Bowen]] |
Revision as of 20:48, 2 February 2024
Euros Bowen (12 September 1904 – 2 April 1988) was a poet in the Welsh language and a priest.
Born in Treorchy, and a brother of the poet Geraint Bowen, he was educated at the Presbyterian College, Carmarthen, and later at the University of Wales (initially at University College, Aberystwyth, before transferring to University College, Swansea), Mansfield College, Oxford and St Catherine's College, Oxford. Although he initially intended to become a Nonconformist minister, he converted to Anglicanism as a student. After more study at St David's College, Lampeter,[1] he was ordained as a priest of the Church in Wales, serving from 1934 to 1938 as curate of Wrexham, then as rector of Llanuwchllyn with Llangywer, on the shore of Lake Bala in Merionethshire. He retired from these parishes in 1973.[2] He spent the remainder of his life in Wrexham.
Euros Bowen began writing poetry in earnest in 1947, during the heavy winter which left him snowbound in his rectory. In many ways a "late bloomer", for he did not publish his first volume of poetry until he was in his early 50s, he at once became notable for the way in which he developed the traditional metres of Welsh poetry. Compared by some with the writing of T. Gwynn Jones, who was also seen as a moderniser of Welsh prosody,[3] Bowen's early work (collected in Cerddi – 'Poems' – in 1957) is dense with layered imagery, and whilst later on he moved into free verse, it is actually difficult to chart his development in a linear way.[4] Although the work in his first book is rich with form and form experiment, his second; Cerddi Rhydd (Free Verses, published 1961) dispenses with all formal devices and is made up of prose proems in the manner of Rimbaud. Not only was Bowen responsible for bringing into Welsh poetry influences from mainland Europe which effectively revolutionised the medium – in this he is in many ways to Welsh literature what T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound were to English – he is also of considerable interest in British poetry because his work with prose poems anticipates that of Geoffrey Hill (in Mercian Hymns) by a clear decade.[5] Although there are some skeins in his work which are reminiscent of Symbolism (he translated a selection of French Symbolist poets into Welsh) and of a kind of Imagism, Bowen always thought of himself as a Sacramentalist and believed the images in his poems communicated as signs. Comparable in stature with his fellow priest-poet R. S. Thomas, Bowen is, nevertheless, considerably more celebratory in tone, and the transformations in nature, as he sees them, often appear as communicating a personal revelation.
In the year after he retired Bowen published a selection of his poems, which included not only the Welsh-language originals but parallel English versions in verse.[6] His poems have also been translated by R. Gerallt Jones and the American Joseph P. Clancy, among others.[7][8]
Euros Bowen won the bardic Crown at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in 1948 for O'r Dwyrain, and again in 1950 for Difodiant.[9]
He edited the literary journal Y Fflam from 1946 to 1952.[10]
Selected later works
- Oes y Medwsa (1987)
- Lleidr Tân
- Buarth Bywyd
- Trin Cerddi
References
- ^ UWTSD, Web Development Team –. "Reverend Euros Bowen | UWTSD". www.uwtsd.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1973–74, Oxford University Press
- ^ Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales, 1986, OUP.
- ^ Jones, G. & Rowlands J, 1980. Profiles: an Account of Welsh and English Language Writers in Wales Today, Llandysul: Gomer.
- ^ Hill, G. 1985, Collected Poems. London: Viking
- ^ Bowen, E. 1974. Poems, Llandysul: Gomer.
- ^ Jones, R. Gerallt, 1975. Poetry of Wales, 1930–70, Llandysul: Gomer.
- ^ Clancy, Joseph P. 1982. Twentieth Century Welsh Poems, Llandysul: Gomer.
- ^ Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel; Baines, Menna & Lynch, Peredur The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. (2008) p. 77 ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6
- ^ Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales (1986), p. 199.
Sources
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry: Patrick Thomas, ‘Bowen, Euros (1904–1988)’, first published September 2004, 690 words