Robert Seymour Bridges was born on 23 October 1844 at Walmer, near Deal in Kent, into a prosperous and cultivated English family whose security gave him both educational opportunity and, eventually, the independence to pursue literature without needing to earn his living from it. He was the fourth son of John Thomas Bridges and Harriet Elizabeth Bridges. His father had served in the navy and later held administrative…
“The grammar of any art is dry and unintelligible to the layman: it seems unrelated to the magic of its delight.”
Neighbourhood:
Dramatic Poets, Edwardian Poets, Pre-Raphaelite Poets, Victorian Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Wonder, Peace
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…
“The old law of ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind.”
Neighbourhood:
Edwardian Poets, Georgian Poets, War Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Tenderness, Spirituality