Excerpt from British and Irish Poets: A Biographical Dictionary, 449-2006

ABSE, DANNIE, (1923- )

Welsh poet, playwright, essayist, novelist and medical doctor, who integrated both his Welsh and Jewish heritages into his poetry. He was editor of the literary magazine, Poetry and Poverty, from 1949 to 1954. His first book of verse, After Every Green, (1948) has been followed by many other individual poems and collections. His Tenants of the House (1957), addresses moral and political concerns with parables. One of the themes he explores in Poems, Golders Green (1962) is of being a Welshman and Jew in London. He has also published novels and works for the theatre, and his autobiography A Poet in the Family (1974). This theme of being different is captured in his autobiography, of a Jewish boy growing up in South Wales, and the only Jewish student in a Roman Catholic grammar school. ‘He is a lyric poet of depth, whose imaginative reach can be both adventurous and demanding.’ (Foreword to White Coat, Purple Coat: Collected Poems 1948-1988. New York: Persea Books, 1991.). The closing stanza of Presences, reads:

The future’s future is another place
where other absences will sting; where
some unfocussed progeny perhaps
will summon me, stumbling on
some inherited thing or, less likely,
reading this poem, maybe!

SOURCES
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Electronic Edition, 2005
The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk)
The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry, 11th ed. (http://www.columbiagrangers.org)
The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 6th edition , 2000
Dannie Abse Selected Poems. Canto Publications. ISBN: 1903515009: Compact Disk. (info@talkpoetry.com)

ADAMS, SARAH FLOWER (1805-1848)

English poet, actress (playing Lady Macbeth in 1837), and Unitarian hymn writer, and was one of the earliest feminists. She contributed 13 hymns to the Unitarian Hymns and Anthems, published in 1841, and contributed to the first illustrated Government report (on Children in the Mines, 1842). Her hymn, Nearer my God to Thee is supposed to have been the hymn the band on the RMS Titanic played when it sank after hitting an iceberg on 14 April 1912, although this is disputed. Her poem, Summer Recollection, (1836) evokes feelings of a balmy summer’s day, with bees gathering nectar from the lime trees, with contented cows lying on the lush grass, chewing the cud. This poem puts Sarah Flower firmly in tune with Nature, and ends:

Night comes!—She seeks her rest.
Peace, fold her to thy breast!
And loveliest dreams unto her sleep be given:
The blessing she has brought

Into her soul be wrought!
On Earth there is no purer, brighter Heaven!

SOURCES
Dictionary of National Biography, Electronic Edition, 1.1
The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry, 11th ed. (http://www.columbiagrangers.org)
The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk)
The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 6th edition , 2000
Oldpoetry, (www.oldpoetry.com)

BRONTË, FAMILY: CHARLOTTE, EMILY, ANNE (1816-1855)

Charlotte, 1816-1855.
Emily, 1818-1848
Anne, 1820-1-1849
(Patrick) Branwell, 1817-1848

As the background information on the family is similar, they are presented in one article.

The Bronte sisters and their brother, Branwell, were born to Patrick Bronte, the Irish-born rector of Haworth in Yorkshire. The girls have all become household names for their contribution to English literature, through novels as well as poetry. Sadly, Branwell’s life ended in heartache, addicted to alcohol and opium, and having had an affair with his employer’s wife. When their mother died, in 1821, Charlotte and Emily were sent to join their elder sisters, Maria and Elizabeth at the Cowan Bridge School in Lancashire, for the daughters of clergy. The fees were low, the food unattractive, and the discipline harsh. It was upon this bleak school that Charlotte based “Lowood” in her novel, “Jane Eyre.” Charlotte and Emily were brought home after their sisters died, and at Haworth the girls, encouraged by Branwell, developed the imaginary kingdoms of Angria and Gondal. All three girls took a succession of unsatisfactory jobs as governesses or teachers, and dreamed of opening a school together, which their aunt had agreed to finance. Prospectuses were issued, but no pupils were attracted to distant Haworth. Charlotte married her father’s curate in 1854, in Haworth church. The sisters’ first venture into poetry, “Poems by Currer, Ellis and Action Bell” (to which Anne contributed 21 poems) was not a success. (Currer, Ellis and Action Bell is a pseudonym of their names). The venture cost the sisters about £50, and only two copies were sold. Charlotte was the first in print: “Jane Eyre” (1847); Emily's “Wuthering Heights” (1847); Anne's “Agnes Grey” (1847); Anne's “Tenant of Wildfcll Hall.” (1848). Extreme interest forced the sisters into revealing their identities. Although the sisters are famous for their novels, they were all substantial poets.

Some of Anne’s poems:

Some of Charlotte’s poems:

Some of Emily’s poems:

SOURCES
Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition, 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997.
Encyclopedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006.
English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995. (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html).
Everyman's Book of Victorian Verse. J. R. Watson, ed. J. M. Dent, 1982.
Encyclopedia of Britain. Bamber Gascoigne. London, Macmillan, 1994.
Gladly Learn and Gladly Teach; Poems of the School Experience. Helen Plotz, ed. Greenwillow Books, 1981.
Selected Poems of Bronte Sisters. (www.web-books.com/Classics/Poetry/Anthology/Bronte ).
The Brontes. (www.bronte-country.com/brontes.html ).
The Columbia Granger’s Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger’s World of
Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005. ( http://www.columbiagrangers.org).
The National Portrait Gallery. (www.npg.org.uk).
The New Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. Christopher Ricks, ed. Oxford University Press, 1987.
The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.
Westminster Abbey Official Guide. (no date).

BROOKE, RUPERT CHAWNER (1887-1915)

From Rugby (where his father taught classics) Brooke went to King's College, Cambridge in 1906 and became a member of the Apostles, an intellectual society founded during the 1820s, with Tennyson and Arthur Hallam among its members. He studied in Germany and traveled in Italy, the United States, Canada, and the South Seas. He was already an established and prolific poet before he wrote his war poetry; “Poems” was published in 1911. On the outbreak of World War I he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and on the way to the Dardanelles he died of septicemia on a hospital ship and was buried in an olive grove on the island of Skyros. His best-known work is the wartime “Sonnet Sequence” (1915), which brought him posthumous fame. One of his most popular sonnets, “The Soldier,” begins with the familiar line: “If I should die, think only this of me.” Brooke began writing poetry at age nine and composed some prize-winning verse on “The Pyramids” and “The Bastille” while at Rugby School. Some of his other poems:

SOURCES
Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition, 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997.
Encyclopedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006.
The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke. Kessinger Publishing Co. 2005.
The Columbia Granger’s Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger’s World of
Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005. ( http://www.columbiagrangers.org).
The National Portrait Gallery. (www.npg.org.uk).
The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed.
Oxford University Press, 2000.
Westminster Abbey Official Guide. (no date).

SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564-1616)

It is believed that he was born on 23 April – which was also the date of his death – the son of a trader and leading citizen of Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire. He had a sound education at the local grammar school, where he would have studied Latin, as well as some of the Classical historians, moralists, and poets. By the early 1590s he was making a name for himself in London as poet, playwright and actor. His first success was Richard III, 1592/3, and he went on to write over forty plays, as well as Sonnets and many other poems; The Tempest (1611) is considered to be his last play. He was a leading member of the theatrical company, the Chamberlain’s Men, and owned a share in the Globe Theatre, built in 1599 on London’s Bankside, and destroyed by fire in 1613. He retired to Stratford where he died and was buried in Holy Trinity Church. He is memorialized by a monument in Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey. Some of his other publications:

SOURCES
Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition, 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997.
Encyclopedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006.
English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995. (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html).
Encyclopedia of Britain. Bamber Gascoigne. London: Macmillan, 1994.
Moods of the Sea; Masterworks of Sea Poetry. George C. Solley, and Eric Steinbaugh, ed. Naval Institute Press, 1981.
Poetry for Pleasure; a Choice of Poetry and Verse on a Variety of Themes. Ian Parsons, ed. W. W. Norton, 1977.
The Columbia Granger’s Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger’s World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005. ( http://www.columbiagrangers.org).
The Faber Book of Political Verse. Tom Paulin, ed. Faber & Faber, 1986.
The Oxford Anthology of English Poetry. Vol. I: Spenser to Crabbe. John Wain, ed. Oxford University Press, 1990.
The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.
Westminster Abbey Official Guide. (no date).

THE TENNYSON BROTHERS (1807-1898

Frederick, 1807-1898
Turner Charles, 1808-1879
Lord Alfred (1809-1892)

Introduction

The three poet brothers were the sons of the Rev. Dr. George Clayton Tennyson, rector of Somersby, a village in North Lincolnshire, between Horncastle and Spilsby. Frederick, Charles (who later adopted the name Turner when he inherited a small property from a great-uncle), and Alfred, contributed to Poems by Two Brothers, (1827). Charles and Alfred married sisters Louisa and Emily Sellwood.

Frederick, 1807-1898
Educated at Eton College he graduated B.A from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1832 having gained the Browne medal for Greek verse, then spent twenty years in Florence, Italy, in close companionship with Elizabeth and Robert Browning (see entries). Discouraged, by the criticism his poetry, he published no more until 1890, when The Isles of Greece, based upon a few surviving fragments of Sappho and Alcæus, was published. Daphne followed (1891); Days and Hours (1854) and Poems of the Day and Year (1895). He married Maria Giuliotti daughter of the chief magistrate of Siena, in 1839, and remained in Italy until 1859, then lived in St. Ewold's, Jersey, until 1896. He died at his son’s house in Kensington, London. Some of his other poems:

Turner Charles, 1808-1879
Educated at Louth Grammar School, then at home by his father, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge on the same day as Frederick and won the Bell scholarship (open to the sons of clergymen) in 1829. He graduated B A from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1832 and was ordained in 1835. Poor health forced his resignation from his living at Grasby, Lincolnshire, and he died at Cheltenham. His nephew Hallam (the second Lord Tennyson), writing of his uncle in the year following his death, tells of the charm of his personality, his fondness for flowers, for dogs and horses, and all living things, and his sweetness and gentleness of character. Some of his poems:

Some of his other poems;

Lord Alfred (1809-1892)
Educated at Louth Grammar School, he went on to Trinity College, Cambridge with his two brothers, where he joined the “Cambridge Apostles” and in 1829, he won the chancellor's medal for English verse on the subject of “Timbuctoo.” He left Cambridge in 1831without taking a degree, to care for his ill father, who died within a month. He and his mother lived on at Somersby until 1837, after which they moved to Essex. Tennyson succeeded William Wordsworth as Poet Laureate in 1850, in the same year as he produced his masterpiece “In Memoriam A.H.H.” dedicated to his friend and brother-in-law Arthur Hallam who died in 1833. He was created Baron Tennyson, of Aldworth in the County of Sussex and of Freshwater in the Isle of Wight; the first English writer raised to the peerage. His poem “Crossing The Bar” was set to music by Sir Frank Bridge and first sung at his funeral in Westminster Abbey, where he is buried in Poets’ Corner, next to Robert Browning. Some of his other poems:

SOURCES

A Century of Sonnets; The Romantic-Era Revival 1750–1850. Paula R. Feldman and Daniel Robinson, ed. Oxford University Press, 1999.
A Sacrifice of Praise; an Anthology of Christian Poetry in English from Caedmon to the Mid-Twentieth Century. James H. Trott, ed. Cumberland House Publishing, 1999.
Collected Sonnets of Turner, Charles Tennyson. Gregg International Publishers, 1880.
Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition, 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997.
Encyclopedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006.
English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995. (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html).
Everyman's Book of Victorian Verse. J. R. Watson, ed. J. M. Dent, 1982.
Golden Numbers. Kate Douglas Wiggin, and Nora Archibald Smith, ed. Doubleday, Doran, 1902.
Immortal Poems of the English Language. Oscar Williams, ed. Simon & Schuster, 1952.
Microsoft Encarta 2006 [DVD]. Microsoft Corporation, 2006.
O Frabjous Day: Poetry for Holidays and Special Occasions. Myra Cohn Livingston, ed. Atheneum, 1977.
Poet’s Graves, Alfred Lord Tennyson. (http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/tennyson.htm).
Stanford University Libraries And Academic Information Resources. (http://library.stanford.edu).
Tennyson; a Selected Edition. Christopher Ricks, ed. University of California Press, 1989.
The Columbia Granger’s Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger’s World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005. ( http://www.columbiagrangers.org).
The Faber Book of Vernacular Verse. Tom Paulin, Faber & Faber, 1990.
The Golden Book of Catholic Poetry. Alfred Noyes, ed. J. B. Lippincott, 1946.
The Harper Anthology of Poetry. John Frederick Nims, ed. Harper & Row, 1981.
The Oxford Book of Nineteenth-Century English Verse. John Hayward, ed. Oxford University Press, 1964; reprinted, with corrections, 1965.
The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. Oxford University Press, 1971.
Westminster Abbey Official Guide. (no date).
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia).

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