British and Irish Poets: A Biographical Dictionary 449-2006

505 Pages·2007·5.9 MB·English

by  William Stewart

British and Irish Poets
This page intentionally left blank
British and
Irish Poets
A Biographical Dictionary,
449–2006
W S
ILLIAM TEWART
Foreword by Steven Barfield
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
British and Irish poets : a biographical
dictionary, 449–2006 / compiled by William Stewart ;
foreword by Steven Barfield.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7864-2891-5
illustrated case binding : 50# alkaline paper
1. Poets, English—Biography—Dictionaries.
2. Poets, Irish—Biography—Dictionaries.
3. English poetry—Bio-bibliography—Dictionaries.
4. English poetry—Irish authors—Bio-bibliography—Dictionaries.
5. English poetry—Welsh authors—Bio-bibliography—Dictionaries.
6. English poetry—Scottish authors—Bio-bibliography—Dictionaries.
I. Stewart, William, 1927– II. Barfield, Steven.
PR502.B67 2007 821.09—dc22 2006102416
[B]
British Library cataloguing data are available
©2007 William Stewart. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
On the cover (left to right, top to bottom):The Venerable Bede (Morse Library,
Beloit College), William Shakespeare (Clipart.com), Robert Burns (Clipart.com),
Lady Mary Wroth (James A. Cannavino Library, Marist College), Alexander Pope
(National Portrait Gallery, London), John Keats (National Portrait Gallery,
London), Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Library of Congress), Dylan Thomas
(John Mitchell), W.H.Auden (California Institute of Technology), Percy Bysshe
Shelley, from Finden’s Landscape & Portrait Illustrations to the Life and Works of
Lord Byron, Volume 2 (London: John Murray, 1832), William Butler Yeats
(George Eastman House, Rochester, NY), Seamus Heaney (University of Leeds)
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
Table of Contents
Foreword by Steven Barfield
1
Preface
3
THE POETS
5
The Poets by Nation
(England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales)
431
Timeline of British and Irish Poets
439
Bibliography
451
Index
479
v
This page intentionally left blank
Foreword
by Steven Barfield
The 1500 hundred year history of poetry dents of poetry who desire or need to know
written in English is extremely rich and diverse; something more about the life and careers of the
so much so, in fact, that some may find the very poets and the different times and societies in
variety and wealth of poetry intimidating. As which they created their work. For these readers
William Stewart suggests in his preface, it is a and students in particular, Stewart’s book will
resource that is very much part of “our” own his- act as an invaluable one-volume map to help lo-
tory, present and future, albeit one that is en- cate the men and women behind the poetry, as
countered through the words left for us by indi- well as providing a companion where readers can
viduals struggling to transform lived experience find further sources of information and discover
into the successful nerve and sinew of poetry. additional poems by the poets whose work inter-
Robert Frost remarked that “Poetry is a way of ests them.
taking life by the throat,” while another Amer- One of the strengths of Stewart’s book is that
ican poet, Emily Dickinson, said, “If I feel phys- it can guide the reader who comes across an in-
ically as if the top of my head were taken off, I dividual, stray poem that comes to inhabit their
know that is poetry.” Such passionate comments own imagination, to find other poems by the
tell us something about why poetry matters and poets and to explore the work of their near con-
why we as readers continue to care about it. temporaries. Stewart is generous and wide-
Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren, in ranging in his choice of the poets whose essen-
1938, produced their famous anthology, Under- tial details he records in this book, mixing the
standing Poetry: An Anthology for College Students. familiar names with the forgotten and obscure,
They made the claim in their prefatory “Letter representing women and men from all walks of
to the Teacher” that “this book has been con- life and fully reflecting the current “internation-
ceived on the assumption that if poetry is worth alization” of poetry written in English by poets
teaching at all it is worth teaching as poetry. The from across the world. Finally, two appendices,
temptation to make a substitute for the poem as bibliography and index of the book further en-
the object of study is usually overpowering.” Yet, courage the reader to seek out the poetic voices
while it is true that there is no substitute for they might not yet be acquainted with, but who
reading actual poetry with due attention and ap- may become valuable to them in the future.
propriate care, there are many readers and stu-
Steven Barfield is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Westminster, United Kingdom.
1
This page intentionally left blank
Preface
Poets of any nation are representatives of a ture. Those are the things that make poetry more
time and an age, and what they write about re- than just a pleasant read; they are part and par-
flects the values, attitudes, experiences, hopes cel of our very life.
and dreams of that slice of time. Thus poets and
their poems are an essential part of history, for on
looking back through their poems we glimpse The Structure of the Book
cultural, national, social, economic, religious
and military history. In the works of British and Each entry is made up of:
Irish poets, we witness the rise and fall of mon-
1. A short biography:
archs and the rise and decline of the British Em-
2. Some of the poet’s main publications:
pire, and the birth of nations who have won their
3. Some of the poems’ titles (but no verses);
independence, such as Ireland and America and
4. A list of sources in which the poems appear.
the African states, and many other countries
Through the poems of Britain and Ireland we The poems chosen say something about the
can trace an intricate weaving of the threads that poet and his or her range of interests. The aim of
make Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales what each entry is to give information; to stimulate
they are in the first years of the 21st century. curiosity and provide resources for further study.
Through the poems in the 1500-year period of Some of the poets are well known, the names of
this book we can trace the struggle for personal others have long-since passed out of the current
and national independence; of a rugged insis- usage; and others, particularly those who write
tence to keep alive dialects and languages that in the vernacular, or in Scots, Gaelic, Irish or
were perhaps destined for obscurity; and a deter- Welsh, deserve to be known to a wider audience.
mination to embrace change, as we become a
multiracial, multicultural society.
We can revel in the pride of great achieve- The Sources
ments and victories and feel the disgrace of the
evil acts and tyranny portrayed by some poems, The Sources list for each entry refers to books
or lose ourselves in the sights, sounds and smells and Internet links that were used in the writing
evoked by others. The poets of the 21st century of the entry, where more information can be
write different poetry from their poetic ances- found including many of the poems.
tors, yet what they have to say and how they say The main sources used throughout this book
it is no less important, and in years to come will are:
form an important slice of current society. And
1. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition,
throughout poetry we can look toward the fu- 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997.
3