SOURCE: A review of Visions and Revisions in The North American Review, Vol. CCI, June, 1915, pp. 923-25.

In the following review of Visions and Revisions, Shaw praises Powys's gift for literary criticism, but pans his indulgent view of great writers.

Mr. Powys is a critic of astonishing brilliancy and insight. Among modern writers upon literature there are few who approach him in the power of perfectly identifying himself with the spirit of the writer whom he describes; there is hardly one who so often gives the reader occasion for a kind of inward shout of joy. A hatred of shallow creeds and narrow dogmas gives vigor and point to his style; a serious and profound feeling for life as a whole lends fervor to his appreciation of strong thoughts and beautiful imaginings. And about the greatest of the writers of whom he treats—about Shakespeare, about Goethe, about...