William Ernest Henley was born on 23 August 1849 in Gloucester, England, and died on 11 July 1903 at Woking, Surrey. He occupies an unusual place in English literary history: widely remembered by the public for a single short poem, “Invictus,” yet far more consequential in his own age as a poet, editor, critic, journalist, dramatist, and formidable presence in literary society. Henley’s life was shaped by physical pa…
“He writes with the pen of a great artist in his left hand and the razor of a spiritual suicide in his right.”
Neighbourhood:
Confessional Poets, Death & Mortality, Victorian Poets
Emotional landscape: Sorrow, Despair, Longing
In the landscape of early twentieth-century English letters, few figures embodied such versatility and contradiction as Clifford Lea Bax. Born on July 13, 1886, in Upper Tooting, south London, into an affluent family that would nurture two remarkable artistic talents, Bax lived until November 18, 1962, leaving behind a body of work that, while often overshadowed by more celebrated contemporaries, offers a fascinating…
“The quiet of the countryside is not the silence of emptiness, but the profound harmony of living things.”
Neighbourhood:
Dramatic Poets, Edwardian Poets, Georgian Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Peace, Tenderness
