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Augustus Grosz (15 February 1842 - 14 February 1888), thinker, writer, antiquarian, egyptologist,<ref> David Hatcher Childress, Technology of the Gods: The Incredible Sciences of the Ancients (Adventures Unlimited Press, 2000) </ref> and energist,<ref> Jeremy Dean, Energism: A Brief Introduction (Houston: Texas Press, 2003) </ref> was a neglected and overlooked late-nineteenth century eccentric, whose writings were heavily influenced by [1232]Bogomilism. His controversial sexual habits have led to a trivilization of his intriguing body of work. But as the twentieth century progressed, Grosz became a cult figure, influencing such figures as diverse as Ezra Pound, R. D. Laing, and Julian Cope.<ref> Julian Cope, The Modern Antiquarian (HarperCollins; Slipcase edition, 1998).</ref> His ecological protonuclear novel, "Sons of Shadow," was particularly influential in the 1960s in the anti-nuclear movement and he has become a focus of interest amongst scholars researching literature of the Celtic peripheries.<ref> See, for example, Lawrence S. Wittner, The Struggle Against the Bomb (Stanford, CA: Stanford University 3 vol. ed I 1993 II 1997 III 2003). </ref>

Early life

Augustus Grosz was born in Berlin in 1842, the only child of Baron Wolfgang von Grosz and Mathilde, nee Tauber, a wealthy aristocrat who was caught up in the 1848 revolution, which caused a dramatic downturn in the family fortunes. Forced to flee to England, one of the few European countries not to be affected by the revolutionary turmoil of these years, the Grosz family set up home in Barking just outside London, struggling to make ends meet. His mother, affected by the sudden fall into poverty, died in 1851, leaving Augustus to be brought up by his father who practised his strict yet innovative educational philosophies, influenced by Rousseau's Emile, on the young boy.<ref> Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile (London: Phoenix Press; New Ed edition, 1993).</ref> Grosz later claimed that he lost his virginity aged just eleven to the family maid, Debbie Russell. Freudian scholars have speculated that this is a claim invented to compensate for the loss of his mother;<ref> Simon Allin, Stranded: Freud and the Celtic (Accrington: Mount Carmel Press, 2007). </ref>it is just as likely that he was, even at that early age, in fact emulating one of his heroes, Lord Byron.<ref> See Leslie Marchand, Lord Byron (London: J. Murray, 1958). </ref>

An Adolescent Apprenticeship

His father's failed business attempts forced Grosz to become an apprentice at a printer's in Southwark in London. The dates are unclear, but he was probably there from 1855 - 1858. This was a formative experience for Grosz. Not only was he exposed to heady London life, he was also able to read widely. In his fictionalized autobiographical writings, he wrote, "One day a copy of Thomson's The Seasons fell open before me; this was the text that opened my eyes to a world of literature, ideas, words. Living in the masses of a city, I had not realized there was a world of 'the rude mountain and the mossy wild.'<ref>James Thomson, The Seasons (London: Scolar Press, 1970).</ref> It was at that moment that the germ of energism awoke within me." Grosz left his apprenticeship and London, never to return.

Early Writings

Little of Grosz's early work survives. It would seem that at this early point Grosz was already attempting to replicate nature within his poetry; however, as Grosz admitted, it was still heavily indebted to the poetry of Thomson, Cowper, and Wordsworth.<ref> See William Cowper, The Task and Other Poems (London: Indypublish.com, 2002) and William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads (London: Penguin, 2002).</ref> One poem that survives is an early documentation of his fascination with Wales. His 1860 poem, "Wealan & Ænglan," a rather idiosynctratic paean to Wales, declared, "I am Welisces, I am Welsharpour."

Wandering to Wales

For Grosz, Wales was a Celtic idyll, far away from the pressures of industrialism. It allowed him to write in peace and practise his personal and sexual eccentricities. However, the main attraction Wales held for him was his belief that Wales was the centre of an ancient civilization and that its people were directly descended from the Egyptians. For the next ten years, he explored the Welsh countryside, investigating the links between Wales and Egypt. He was led to Holyhead, near which he settled in 1870.<ref> For a history of Holyhead and the region, see Bangor, Caernarfon: Amlwch, Holyhead, Llangefni (Estate Publications: 2004). </ref> In Holyhead he could look towards the fellow Celtic civilization of Ireland, towards which he held a deep and longlasting suspicion; Holyhead was also renowned for its prehistoric and Roman origins. His extensive, yet idiosyncratic, research led him to declare that St Cybi's church was originally a location for pagan sacrifices to Osiris.<ref>Emily Sands, Dugald Steer, Nick Harris, and Helen Ward, Egyptology: Search for the Tomb of Osiris(2004).</ref>

Energism

Grosz rejected his father's Lutherism early on in his life. Instead, he believed in an energy force which all moving creatures exchange and "which unites us all." As a self-styled energist, he was hostile to science's attempts to trap and master energy; his firm belief was that "we have to let energy run and be servants to it. By harnessing energy, man becomes evil and destructive." His energist philosophy affected his eating habits: he radically declared, "ONLY EAT WHAT MOVES," expressing his belief that man should only eat what he has killed with his bare hands. For Grosz, "EATING IS AN ENERGY." His energism also had an important effect on his sexual activities. He believed sexual acts were, what he termed, "a return to energy." Sexual partners, therefore, should seek to realize their animal spirits in sexual practice, even to the extent of dressing as animals which best represented their animalistic energy. Grosz was particularly fond of dressing as a vole.

The Major Works

Settled in Holyhead, he embarked on his epic poem, "Calla ethiopica," ("Egyptian Lily"), a work greatly influenced by the romantic poetic epics of Robert Southey,<ref> See for instance Robert Southey, Thalaba the Destroyer: A Gothic Romance (London: Longman, 1801).</ref> which described in detail the Egyptian exodus to Wales. The poem is extraordinary in its overarching explanations for an Egyptian presence in Wales. For example, Grosz described the Welsh mountains as natural coverings of manmade pyramids which the Egyptians had built. The poem itself tells the story of an Egyptian peasant who uses the spirit of energism to rise to become Pharoah; once in this position, he leads his people to Wales, to seek the "orgminded Celtic." He supports this account with an elaborate and detailed number of footnotes, citing authorities such as Sir William Jones, Constantin de Volney, and contemporary anthropological writings.<ref> William Jones (Editor), Alexander Murray (Editor), Richard Gombrich (Introduction), Sir William Jones, 1746-1794: A Commemoration (Lawbook Exchange: 2006) and C.F. Volney, The Ruins: Or, Meditation on the Revolutions of Empires: And the Law of Nature. (BiblioBazaar: 2006).</ref>

Grosz then wrote the most formally challenging works of his oeuvre, "The Squawk Poems," a result of his lifelong dedication to energism. In "The Squawk Poems," Grosz replicated the sounds and movements of Welsh animals, transferring their natural energy into vibrant formalism. In his most memorable, but controversial, contribution, "The Spaces In [ ] Between," Grosz transcribed the imagined sound of an eagle in flight:

phhhhhooooosshyyeeeeaaawwowphhhhhoooooossh.

"The Spaces In [ ] Between" incredibly, given its imaginative poetic innovation, lasts five thousand lines. This may account for the neglect the poem has unfortunately received in mainstream scholarship. However, an emerging scholar, Bryan Radley, claims that these poems, with their conscious deconstruction of traditional poetic structure and emphasis on non-mechanical energy, were a strong influence on the equally eccentric modernists Ezra Pound and Wyndham Lewis.<ref> Bryan Radley, "Grosz, Pound, Lewis" (forthcoming in Modernism/Modernity, November 2007).</ref>

Grosz's last major work was "Sons of Shadow," a protonuclear novel with elements of science fiction fantasy. This visionary novel was a result of his close affinity with nature, dramatically showcasing his ecological beliefs. In "Sons of Shadow," an unnamed government, but probably Ireland under Home Rule, uses scientifically-harnessed energy against another country, possibly Wales, Egypt, or Belgium. This misuse of natural resources for aggressive military aims leaves a postapocalyptic world in which there is no energy and therefore no connection between men. The novel's protaganist, AG, struggles to survive in the Welsh mountains, but through his energist beliefs founds a new community, offering hope for humanity. Some have said that this little-known masterpiece influenced the popular 1990s sci fi series "Babylon 5"; this, however, has been denied by the programme's producers.

Final Years

After completing what is certainly his masterpiece, Grosz returned to poetry, attempting to combine the romantic epic and the experimentalism of the Squawk period. The composition of these poems troubled Grosz and only fragments remain.

Grosz's death was unusual and unexpected. Walking in the countryside just a day before his forty-sixth birthday, he picked up a grass snake to commune with its energy. Unfortunately, the snake was a Black Adder, Britain's only venemous snake. His final words, as he died from the bite, were, "Damn the Irish."

References

Grosz's work was unpublished in his lifetime. Access to his work amongst his varied followers relied on the private distrubtion of copied manuscripts. Finally, these manuscripts are to be published in 2008 under the Mount Carmel imprint: Grosz, Augustus. Squawk, Sons of Shadow, and Fragments: The Collected Works of Augustus Grosz (Accrington: Mount Carmel Press, forthcoming 2008).

Allin, Simon. Stranded: Freud and the Celtic (Accrington: Mount Carmel Press, 2007).

Childress, David Hatcher. Technology of the Gods: The Incredible Sciences of the Ancients (Adventures Unlimited Press, 2000).

[1233]Cope, Julian. The Modern Antiquarian (HarperCollins; Slipcase edition, 1998).

Dean, Jeremy. Energism: A Brief Introduction (Houston: Texas Press, 2003).

Radley, Bryan. "Grosz, Pound, Lewis" (forthcoming in Modernism/Modernity, November 2007).

Wittner, Lawrence S. The Struggle Against the Bomb (Stanford, CA: Stanford University 3 vol. ed I 1993 II 1997 III 2003).

Zygadenus, Euthymius. Narratio de Bogomilis (Göttingen, 1842).

Notes

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