Adam Fox (poet)

Adam Fox ( July 15, 1883 , † January 17, 1977 ) was a British poet and Dean of Divinity (Dean of Theology) at Magdalen College . From 1938 to 1942 he was Professor of Poetry . He then came to Westminster Abbey as a canon , where he is also buried.

During his time in Oxford he was one of the so-called Inklings , a group of mostly Christian writers, including CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien in particular . In Oxford he published his four-volume poem Old King Coel, named after the legendary father of Helena , the mother of Emperor Constantine . It is set in Britain during the time of the late Roman Empire. As a professor for poetry, he made a particular effort to demand a poem that could be enjoyed to read (So in Poetry for Pleasure), a poem that would be too difficult to access would become meaningless in the long run. In doing so, he criticized the modern poetry that was gaining strength in his time.

Fox is one of the people who shaped the intellectual life of his time. It stands for the attempt to combine Platonic philosophy and Christianity in the 20th century. For example, he tried to make Plato a matter of course for readers of his time to read. The story of his election as Professor of Poetry is interesting. This office is determined by an election of all MAs from Oxford University. When Fox heard of a candidate he found particularly unsuitable, he said over breakfast in college, "You might as well choose me." Next to him, Clive Staples Lewis replied, "We'll do that." And then took successfully put the preparations in hand.

Works

• Dean Inge . Murray, London 1960
• Old King Coel. A rhymed tale in 4 books . OUP, London 1937
• Plato for Pleasure . Murray, London 1962
• Plato and the Christians. Passages from the writings of Plato . SCM PRess, London 1957
• Poetry for Pleasure . Clarendon, Oxford 1938

literature

• Thomas Gerold: Adam Fox (1883–1977). Poet and Christian Platonist . In: Inklings Yearbook for Literature and Aesthetics . Volume 19, 2001, pp. 201-214.