The Rose on the Ash-Heap

by Owen Barfield

The Rose on the Ash-Heap is the epilogue from 'English People' - Barfield's ambitious unpublished novel of English life between the First and Second World Wars. At once fairy tale, societal critique, romance and apocalyptic vision, it discloses the redemptive powers of love and imagination. Sultan, Lord of all the Asias, falls passionately in love with a beautiful and elusive temple dancer. He pursues her across continents, all the way to Albion, where the Lord of Albion - guardian of all that is good in the English spirit - confronts the overwhelming threat of Abdol and the forces of materialism. Written in the late 1920s, a time of widespread societal and economic instability, The Rose on the Ash-Heap also addresses the deepest concerns and hopes of the twenty-first century. Owen Barfield is one of the twentieth century's most significant writers and philosophers. A member of the Inklings, the Oxford literary group which included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, Barfield's ideas and literary artistry influenced both Lewis and Tolkien, and won praise from many of the foremost literary figures of the century. Praise for Owen "A prolific and interesting thinker" - Times Literary Supplement "The wisest and best of my unofficial teachers."- C.S.Lewis "A masterpiece ... of prophetic value" - T.S.Eliot "..possibly the clearest and most searching thinker of the present time" - Howard Nemerov

Genres: Fantasy

120 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

Arthur Owen Barfield was a British philosopher, author, poet, and critic.

Barfield was born in London. He was educated at Highgate School and Wadham College, Oxford and in 1920 received a first class degree in English language and literature. After finishing his B. Litt., which became his third book Poetic Diction, he was a dedicated poet and author for over ten years. After 1934 his profession was as a solicitor in London, from which he retired in 1959 aged 60. Thereafter he had many guest appointments as Visiting Professor in North America. Barfield published numerous essays, books, and articles. His primary focus was on what he called the "evolution of consciousness," which is an idea which occurs frequently in his writings. He is best known as a founding father of Anthroposophy in the English speaking world.

Barfield has been known as "the first and last Inkling". He had a profound influence on C. S. Lewis, and through his books The Silver Trumpet and Poetic Diction (dedicated to C.S. Lewis), an appreciable effect on J. R. R. Tolkien. Lewis was a good friend of Barfield since 1919, and termed Barfield "the best and wisest of my unofficial teachers". That Barfield did not consider philosophy merely intellectually is illustrated by a well-known interchange that took place between Lewis and Barfield. Lewis one day made the mistake of referring to philosophy as "a subject." "It wasn't a subject to Plato," said Barfield, "It was a way." Lewis refers to Barfield as the "Second Friend" in Surprised by Joy:

But the Second Friend is the man who disagrees with you about everything. He is not so much the alter ego as the antiself. Of course he shares your interests; otherwise he would not become your friend at all. But he has approached them all at a different angle. He has read all the right books but has got the wrong thing out of every one. It is as if he spoke your language but mispronounced it. How can he be so nearly right and yet, invariably, just not right?

Barfield and C. S. Lewis met in 1919 and were close friends for 44 years. Barfield was instrumental in converting Lewis to theism during the early period of their friendship which they affectionately called 'The Great War'. Maud also guided Lewis. As well as being friend and teacher to Lewis, Barfield was his legal adviser and trustee. Lewis dedicated his 1936 book Allegory of Love to Barfield. Lewis wrote his 1949 book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for Lucy Barfield and he dedicated The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to Geoffrey in 1952.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Jennings · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a weird and wonderful book, a mix of fairy tale and dystopia. A Sultan pursues a temple dancer symbolizing the Divine Feminine to the farthest West reaches of the world. In his journey he meets the Poet and the Philosopher and watches the transformation of the kingdom into a materialist hellscape under the tycoon Abdol. He ends up joining a literally underground circus that is preparing for uprising against Abdol, on the day of Apocalypse. The end is an unforgettable scene of making love on horseback whle the moon plummets to the earth. This is a good story for those who enjoy symbolism, and is likely to go over the heads of those who don't. What I especially appreciate about Barfield is that he is not partisan according to today's political silos; he opposes everything dehumanizing, whether stereotypically "Right" or "Left." Giving 4 stars because some of the story seems like bizarre randomness, but perhaps I just do not grasp all the symbolism.

[J. W. Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable story, and deeply prophetic - though I can't entirely get behind Barfield's spiritual answer to the problems this fairy-tale depicts.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second time to read this now that I have finished reading the novel it completes, English People. I like it slightly more than my first time. I'm not certain yet what I think yet of its relationship to the novel.