Produced by Ruth Hart ruthhart@twilightoracle.com[Note: I have made the following spelling changes:Prologue: "methed" to "method";Chapter 2: "renders imposssible" to "renders impossible"; "which man possessses" to "which man possesses"; "absolute unqestionable" to "absolute unquestionable"; "loathesomeness" to "loathsomeness";Chapter 3: "alllowed to distort" to "allowed to distort";Chapter 4: "itelf in its precise" to "itself in its precise";Chapter 5: "do very considerably" to "do vary considerably";Chapter 6: "its own permonition" to "its own premonition"; "arbitrement" to "arbitrament"; "subtratum" to "substratum"; "gooodeness" to "goodness";Chapter 7: "flicherings" to "filcherings"; "Perapity" to "Peripety";Chapter 8: "penerated" to "penetrated";Chapter 9: "the anthropomorphic expresssion" to "the anthropomorphic expression"; "convuluted" to "convoluted";Chapter 10: "a vast hierachy" to "a vast hierarchy";Chapter 11: "to be too anthromorphic" to "to be too anthropomorphic"; "strictly strictly speaking" to "strictly speaking";Chapter 13: "working in isolaton" to "working in isolation"; "If to this the astronomer answer" to "If to this the astronomer answers"; "difficult to decribe" to "difficult to describe"; "the asethetic sense" to "the aesthetic sense"; "no attentuation" to "no attenuation"; "the Complex Vision represents" to "the complex vision represents";Conclusion: "is eternaly divided" to "is eternally divided"; "rest of the imortals" to "rest of the immortals"; "elimination of the objectice mystery" to "elimination of the objective mystery".The word "over-soul" is mostly spelled with a hyphen, so I added a hyphen to all instances of this word.The word "outflowing" is mostly spelled without a hyphen, so I deleted the hyphens from all instances of this word.All other spelling remains the same.]
THE COMPLEX VISION
BY
JOHN COWPER POWYS
NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
1920
DEDICATED
TO
LITTLETON ALFRED
PROLOGUE
What I am anxious to attempt in this anticipatory summary of thecontents of this book is a simple estimate of its finalconclusions, in such a form as shall eliminate all technical termsand reduce the matter to a plain statement, intelligible as far assuch a thing can be made intelligible, to the apprehension of suchpersons as have not had the luck, or the ill-luck, of a plunge intothe ocean of metaphysic.
A large portion of the book deals with what might be called ourinstrument of research; in other words, with the problem ofwhat particular powers of insight the human mind must use, if itsvision of reality is to be of any deeper or more permanent valuethan the "passing on the wing," so to speak, of individual fanciesand speculations.
This instrument of research I find to be the use, by the humanperson, of all the various energies of personality concentratedinto one point; and the resultant spectacle of things or reality ofthings, which this concentrated vision makes clear, I call theoriginal revelation of the complex vision of man.
Having analyzed in the earlier portions of the book the peculiarnature of our organ of research and the peculiardifficulties—amounting to a very elaborate work of art—which haveto be overcome before this concentration takes place, Iproceed in the later portions of the book to make as clear as I canwhat kind of reality it is that we actually do succeed in grasping,when this concentrating process has been achieved. I indicateincidentally that this desirable concentration of the energies ofpersonality is so difficult a thing that we are compelled to resortto our memory of what we experienced in rare and fortunate momentsin o