The Columbia History of British Poetry (171 page)

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Page 666
he met Sidney, to whom he dedicated his
Shepheardes Calender
(1579). He married Maccabeus Chylde (1579), had two children, and became secretary to Lord Grey de Wilton, Lord Deputy of Ireland. In Ireland from 1580 until his return to London (1598), he served as an "undertaker" for the settlement of Munster (1588), acquired Kilcolman Castle in Cork, and wrote "Astrophel" on Sidney, and
The Faerie Queene
(IIII, 1590; IVVI, 1596). In 1594 Spenser had a son by Elizabeth Boyle and may have celebrated their marriage in
Amoretti
and
Epithalamion
(1595). In 1598 his castle at Kilcolman was burned and he fled to Cork with his wife and children; he died in London.
Sir John Suckling (16091642)
Suckling was educated at Cambridge, entered Grays Inn (1627), and was knighted (1630). A member of Sir Henry Vane's embassy to Gustavus Adolphus (1631), he returned to London (1632) and became gentleman of the privy chamber to Charles I. A leader of the royalist party, Suckling fled to France after unsuccessfully rescuing the earl of Strafford from the Tower (1641). An alleged suicide, Suckling wrote four plays, including a tragedy,
Aglaura
(1637), and a romantic comedy,
The Goblins
(1638); his poems are collected in
Fragmenta Aurea
(1646).
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517?1547)
Surrey married the earl of Oxford's daughter, Frances Vere (1532), at Anne Boleyn's suggestion. When Jane Seymour accused Surrey of favoring the Catholics in the rebellion of 1530, he was imprisoned at Windsor (15371539). Surrey served in the campaign of Scotland (1542), joined the army in France and Flanders (15431546), and was wounded, imprisoned, and executed on frivolous charges. He translated
The Aeneid
(II, IV), introduced blank verse into English poetry, and adapted the Italian sonnet to English.
Jonathan Swift (16671745)
Born in Dublin, Swift attended Trinity College, Dublin (1682), and was secretary to Sir William Temple at Moor Park (16841694; 16961699). He composed Pindaric odes and acted as tutor to Esther Johnson (the future Stella), whom he may have secretly married (1716). Ordained the year he returned to Ireland (1695), he wrote
The Battle of the Books
, which was published with
A Tale of a Tub
(1704), and began his career as a satirist (
Gulliver's Travels
, 1726), political journalist, and churchman. His verse includes "A Description of the Morning" (1709), "Cadenus and Vanessa" (1726), and "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift" (1739).
Algernon Charles Swinburne (18371909)
Born in London and educated at Eton and Oxford, Swinburne wrote
Atalanta in Calydon
(1865), a drama in the Greek form, that made him famous.
 
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Swinburne's morality was questioned with the publication of
Poems and Ballads
(1866).
A Song of Italy
(1867) and
Songs Before Sunrise
(1871), demonstrating his support for Mazzini and Italian independence, were followed by the more temperate
Poems and Ballads: Second Series
(1878). In 1879, he moved to Putney, where Theodore Watts-Dunton helped Swinburne curtail his heavy drinking. He subsequently published three volumes of poems, dramas, and influential works of literary criticism.
Arthur Symons (18651945)
Born in Pembrokeshire, Symons contributed to
The Yellow Book
and edited
The Savoy
(1896), where he published Beardsley, Conrad, Dowson, and others. A leading member of the Decadent movement (1890s), he introduced French Symbolism to England with
The Symbolist Movement in Literature
(1899); wrote studies of Blake, Baudelaire, Pater, and Wilde; and published his own poetry, including
Days and Nights
(1889) and
Images of Good and Evil
(1899). In 19081909 he suffered a nervous collapse, recorded, with his recovery, in
Confessions
(1930).
Jane Taylor (17831824)
Born in London, the daughter of a dissenting minister, Taylor lived in Suffolk (17861795), Colchester (17961810), and Ongar (1811), writing stories, plays, and verse from an early age. She worked as an engraver and, with her sister Ann, wrote
Original Poems for Infant Minds
(1804) and
Rhymes for the Nursery
(1806). Her novel,
Display
(1815), was followed by essays for
Youth's Magazine
(18161822);
Essays in Rhyme
(1816), and collections of poems and fiction.
Alfred Tennyson, First Baron (18091892)
Born in Lincolnshire to a psychically unstable family, Tennyson was educated at Cambridge. He joined the Apostles, befriended Arthur Hallam, and traveled with him to the Continent.
Poems, Chiefly Lyrical
(1830) was followed by
Poems
(1833), which was reviewed harshly. A ten years' silence followed, during which Tennyson wrote brief elegies on Hallam, who had died abroad (1833). He published
Poems
(1842), followed by
In Memoriam
(1850), and
Maud
(1855). Appointed poet laureate (1850), Tennyson married Emily Sellwood that same year, establishing his fame with "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (1854) and several volumes, including
Idylls of the King
(1859).
Dylan Thomas (19141953)
Born in Swansea, Thomas worked as a journalist before moving to London (1934) and marrying Caitlin Macnamara (1937). He worked as a script writer and broadcaster for the BBC during World War II.
18 Poems
(1934) and
Twenty-Five Poems
(1936) attracted the attention of Edith Sitwell, while
New Poems
 
Page 668
(1943) established his reputation. Thomas undertook three reading tours of the United States for financial reasons, and died of alcoholic poisoning on the fourth. His
Adventures in the Skin Trade
(1955) is one of several collections of stories, and
Under Milk Wood
, a "play for voices," is his most famous work.
Francis Thompson (18591907)
Born in Lancashire, Thompson attended Ushaw College and studied medicine at Owens College. Rescued by Alice Meynell and her husband from a life of poverty in London, Thomson is best known for "The Hound of Heaven," which describes the pursuit of the human soul by God. He also wrote
Poems
(1893),
Sister Songs
(1895), and
New Poems
(1897). Intermittent opium addiction, combined with tuberculosis, contributed to his early death.
James Thomson (17001748)
Born at Ednam and educated at Edinburgh University (1715), Thomson arrived in London (1725) and wrote
The Seasons
(17261730), which contributed to the vogue for the picturesque. The first of his several patrons introduced him to Arbuthnot, Pope, and Gay. He wrote tragedies, including
Sophonisba
(1730), a masque;
Alfred
(1740), containing "Rule, Britannia"; and
The Castle of Indolence
(1748).
Charles Tomlinson (1927)
Born in Stoke-on-Trent and educated at Cambridge and London University, Alfred Charles Tomlinson has taught at the University of Bristol (19681982), the University of New Mexico (19621963), and Colgate University (1967). His verse includes
Relations and Contraries
(1951),
Seeing is Believing
(1958), and
American Scenes
(1966). He collaborated with Octavio Paz on a sonnet sequence,
Air Born/Hijos del Aire
(1979), and translated Paz and Antonio Machado in
Translations
(1983).
In Black and White
(1975) is a collection of his graphic work.
Thomas Traherne (16371674)
Traherne was born in Hereford and attended Oxford (M.A., 1661; B.D., 1669). Appointed rector of Credenhill (1657) and ordained (1660), he became chaplain to Sir Orlando Bridgeman, the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal (1667). He published
Roman Forgeries
(1673) and
Christian Ethics
(1675); his poems and autobiography, published as
Centuries of Meditations
(1908), were discovered after 1900.
Henry Vaughan (16211695)
Born in Wales, Vaughan attended Oxford but did not finish his degree. He studied law in London (1640), probably fought on the royalist side during the
 
Page 669
civil war, and returned to London to work as a physician. His twin brother, Thomas, was a disciple of Cornelius Agrippa and published treaties on alchemy and magic; Henry's own verse exhibits his fascination with hermeticism and mysticism.
Poems, with the Tenth Satire of Juvenal Englished
(1646) was followed by
Olor Iscanus
(1647),
Silex Scintillans
(1650), and
Thalia Rediviva
(1678). His prose works include
The Mount of Olives
(1652).
Oscar [Fingal O'Flahertie Wills] Wilde (18541900)
Born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College there and at Oxford, Wilde won the Newdigate prize for "Ravenna" (1878) and published
Poems
(1881). He lectured in the United States (18821883), married (1884), and wrote children's stories (
The Happy Prince
, 1888), a novel (
The Picture of Dorian Gray
, 1890), and several plays (
The Importance of Being Earnest
, 1895).
The Soul of Man Under Socialism
(1891), a response to G. B. Shaw, argues for individual freedom. In 1895 Wilde was imprisoned for homosexual offenses, declared bankrupt, and wrote
De Profundis. The Ballad of Reading Gaol
(1898), written in France, was inspired by his prison experience.
William Wordsworth (17701850)
Born in Cockermouth, Wordsworth graduated from Cambridge. In 17911792 he visited France, had a daughter by Annette Vallon, and was encouraged in his early enthusiasm for the French Revolution by Michel Beaupuy. In England again, Wordsworth received a legacy from Raisley Calvert (1795) and a sinecure as Distributor of Stamps (1813). He collaborated with Coleridge on
Lyrical Ballads
(1798, 1800), visited Goslar, Germany (1798), and wrote sections of
The Prelude
(1850). Wordsworth began "The Recluse" in 1799, and married Mary Hutchinson (1802). He succeeded Robert Southey as poet laureate (1843). His published verse includes
Poems in Two Volumes
(1807),
The Excursion
(1814),
The White Doe of Rylstone
(1815), two volumes of
Miscellaneous Poems
(1815), and
Peter Bell
(1819).
Lady Mary Sidney Wroth (1587?1651?)
Born into a literary family, Mary Sidney married Sir Robert Wroth (1604), whose death (1613) left her in considerable debt after the birth of their only child. Protected from creditors (1623), she had two illegitimate children by her cousin, William Herbert, third earl of Pembroke. A patroness of contemporary literature, Wroth acted in Ben Jonson's "Masque of Blackness," and received dedications from Jonson, Chapman, and others.
The Countess of Montgomerie's Urania
(1621), a close imitation of her uncle Sidney's
Arcadia
, is her only published work and satirizes James I's courtiers; it was withdrawn six months after printing because of objections. She also wrote
Loves Victorie
(1853), a pastoral verse play.
 
Page 670
Sir Thomas Wyatt (15031542)
Educated at Cambridge, Wyatt married Elizabeth Brooke (15201526). He served Henry VIII on missions to the Papal court (1527), as High Marshal of Calais (15281532), and as ambassador to Charles V (15371539). Wyatt was imprisoned in the Tower on suspicions of adultery with Anne Boleyn (1536), but pardoned and knighted (1537). After embassies in France and Holland, he was charged with treason, but acquitted (1541). His poetry introduced into English the Italian sonnet, terza rima form, and the rondeau, and includes
Certayne Psalmes
(1549), three satires, and
Songes and Sonettes
(1557).
William Butler Yeats (18651939)
Born in Dublin, Yeats studied at the School of Art in Dublin (18831886) and helped found an Irish Literary Society in London (1891) and Dublin (1892). He began his project of an Irish national theater with an 1899 performance of
The Countess Cathleen
(1892);
Cathleen Ni Houlihan
(1902) was his most successful play. Yeats wrote on Irish legends in
The Celtic Twilight
(1893). Maude Gonne (1889) inspired poems in
The Land of Heart's Desire
(1894) and other volumes. Lady Gregory's estate, Coole Park, provided the emotional landscape for
The Wild Swans at Coole
(1919). He married Georgie Hyde-Lees (1917), whose system of symbolismdescribed in
A Vision
(1925)affected his subsequent work. A senator of the Irish Free State (19221928), Yeats received the Nobel prize in 1923.
Edward Young (16831765)
Born at Upham rectory, Young attended Oxford, where he became a fellow of All Souls (1708). His early dramas, such as
Busiris
(1719) and
The Revenge
(1721), were successfully produced at Drury Lane. In 1730 Young became rector at Welwyn, married Elizabeth Lee, daughter of the earl of Lichfield (1731), and published a patriotic ode,
The Foreign Address
(1735). The deaths of his stepdaughter (1736) and his wife (1740) provided the impetus for
Night-Thoughts
(17421746), which placed Young in the company of 'graveyard' poets.

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