John Ruskin was born in London on 8 February 1819, the only child of John James Ruskin and Margaret Cox Ruskin. He would become one of the nineteenth century’s most forceful and distinctive voices: an art critic, social thinker, lecturer, draftsman, historian of architecture, environmental observer, moral philosopher, and writer of prose whose rhythms often approached poetry. Though he is not chiefly remembered as a…
“The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something, and tell what it saw in a plain way.”
Neighbourhood:
Nature Poets, Pre-Raphaelite Poets, Social Justice Poets, Victorian Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sorrow, Tenderness
On a summer day in June 1892, in the bustling heart of London, Edward Richard Buxton Shanks entered a world on the cusp of profound transformation. Born on June 11th into a comfortable middle-class family, the infant who would become one of the first recipients of Britain's most prestigious literary honor could hardly have imagined the tumultuous century that awaited him. His life would span two world wars, witness t…
Neighbourhood:
Edwardian Poets, Georgian Poets, Modernist Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sorrow, Wonder