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…
“Byron was not interested in words and phrases but in the greater truths of destiny and emotion.”
Neighbourhood:
Confessional Poets, Death & Mortality, Victorian Poets
Emotional landscape: Sorrow, Despair, Longing
Rupert Chawner Brooke was born on 3 August 1887 at 5 Hillmorton Road, Rugby, Warwickshire, into a family for whom learning, public service, religion, and the traditions of English education were central facts of life. He died on 23 April 1915, aged only twenty-seven, on the Greek island of Skyros while serving with the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. In the short interval between those dates, Brooke became…
“Love is the great poet of the world.”
Neighbourhood:
Edwardian Poets, Georgian Poets, War Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Tenderness, Spirituality
