Adam Fox

Adam Fox (1883-1977). Portrait by Coral Nereille. Courtesy The Telegraph.

Adam Fox (1883-1977) was an English poet, academic, and canon.

Life

Fox was born in Kensington, London. He was educated at Winchester School, and then attended University College, Oxford.

He was for some time the warden (headmaster) of Radley College.

In 1929, he was elected a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He was one of the first members of the "Inklings", a literary group which also included C.S. Lewis (an admirer of Fox's poetry) and J.R.R. Tolkien. He was elected Oxford Professor of Poetry in 1937, in large part due to campaigning by Lewis and Tolkien. The story is related that Lewis told Fox, one morning at breakfast, that Shakespearean scholar E.K. Chambers had been proposed for the professorship, to which Fox replied, "This is simply shocking. They might as well make me Professor of Poetry.” "Well, we will," Lewis replied.

In 1942 Fox became a canon of Westminster Abbey.

Writing

During his time at Oxford, he wrote his long poem in four books "Old King Coel". It gets its name from King Cole, legendary British father of the Roman Empress Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine.

As Professor of Poetry, Fox advocated poetry which is intelligible to readers, and gives enough pleasure to be read again. This was important to him because poetry which is not re-read will not be understood properly, and will therefore be irrelevant. This advocacy can be understood as a criticism against some forms of modern poetry.

Although not considered one of the most important "Inklings", Fox's works are still of interest, particularly those concerning Christianity and Platonism. In his 1945 Plato for Pleasure, he tried to introduce the general public to Plato. Fox wished to make Plato well known among the English Classics once again and hoped that people would study the platonic dialogues, as well as the plays of Shakespeare. His biography of William Ralph Inge, the famous theologian, philosopher, and Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, is still regarded as an important text

Recognition

Fox's satiric poem "Babylon" won Oxford's Sacred Poem Prize in 1929.

His biography of Inge was awarded the 1960 James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

Fox's ashes are buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.

Publications

Poetry

• Babylon: A sacred satire. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1929.
• Old King Coel: A rhymed tale in four books. London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1937.

Non-fiction

• Poetry for Pleasure: An inaugural lecture. Oxford, UK:
• English Hymns and Hymnwriters. London: Collins, 1947.
• Meet the Greek Testament: Two essays and a dialogue intended for those who have little or no Greek. London: SCM Press, 1952.
• The Pictorial History of Westminster Abbey (text). London: Pitkins, 1952.
• John Mill and Richard Bentley: A study of the textual criticism of the New Testament, 1675-1729. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1954.
• Plato for Pleasure. London: Westhouse, 1955.
• Dean Inge. London: John Murray, 1960.

Edited

• English Well Used: Prose passages (edited with Andrew Claye). London: John Baker, 1968.
• Sacred and Secular: A companion (edited with Gareth Keene & Georgina Keene). London: John Murray, 1975.

See also

• List of British poets

Preceded by George Gordon

Oxford Professor of Poetry 1938-1943

Succeeded by Maurice Bowra

References

• Thomas Gerold, "Adam Fox (1883–1977), Dichter und Christlicher Platoniker", in Inklings-Jahrbuch für Literatur und Ästhetik 19 (2001), 201–214.
• Diana Glyer, The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as writers in community, 2007. ISBN 978-0-87338-890-0.
• Karlson, Henry (2010). Thinking with the Inklings. ISBN 1-4505-4130-5.