William Sharp was born on 12 September 1855 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, at a time when Scotland’s industrial towns were expanding rapidly but remained surrounded, in memory and imagination, by older rural worlds. He would become one of the most energetic and versatile literary figures of the late Victorian period: a poet, critic, biographer, editor, translator, anthologist, travel writer, and cultural interpreter. Yet…
“I cling to my Sunshine Creed—to live sunnily, to think blithely, to act on the square even in my sinning, and to try to give sunshine to others.”
Neighbourhood:
Mystical & Spiritual Poets, Pre-Raphaelite Poets, Scottish Poets, Symbolist Poets
Emotional landscape: Wonder, Joy, Peace
John Gibson Lockhart was born on 12 June 1794 at the manse of Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, into a world in which Scottish religious discipline, intellectual ambition, and political controversy were closely entwined. His father, the Reverend Dr John Lockhart, was minister of Cambusnethan parish, and his mother, Elizabeth Gibson, came from a family whose name Lockhart later adopted as his middle name. The future writer g…
“Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing?”
Neighbourhood:
Romantic Poets, Scottish Poets
Emotional landscape: Sorrow, Spirituality, Longing
