Arthur William Symons (28 February 186522 January 1945) was a British poet, critic and

magazine editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

Life

Born in Milford Haven,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, to Cornish parents, Symons was educated privately, spending much of his time in France and Italy. In 1884–1886, he edited four of

Bernard Quaritch Bernard Alexander Christian Quaritch ( ; April 23, 1819 – December 17, 1899) was a German-born British bookseller and collector. The company established by Bernard Quaritch in 1847 lives on in London as Bernard Quaritch Ltd, dealing in rare ...

's ''Shakespeare Quarto Facsimiles'', and in 1888–1889 seven plays of the ''"

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''. He became a member of the staff of the ''

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'' in 1891, and of the '' Saturday Review'' in 1894, but his major editorial feat was his work with the short-lived '' Savoy''. His first volume of verse, ''Days and Nights'' (1889), consisted of dramatic monologues. His later verse is influenced by a close study of modern French writers, of

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited ...

, and especially of

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. He reflects French tendencies both in the subject-matter and style of his poems, in their eroticism and their vividness of description. Symons contributed poems and essays to ''

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'', including an important piece which was later expanded into '' The Symbolist Movement in Literature,'' which would have a major influence on

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and T. S. Eliot. From late 1895 through 1896 he edited, along with

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and Leonard Smithers, '' The Savoy'', a literary magazine which published both art and literature. Noteworthy contributors included Yeats,

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, and Joseph Conrad. Symons was also a member of the Rhymer's Club founded by Yeats in 1890. In 1892, ''The Minister's Call'', Symons's first play, was produced by the Independent Theatre Society – a private club – to avoid censorship by the

Lord Chamberlain's Office The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the British Royal Household. It is concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, royal weddings and funerals. For example, in April 2005 it organised th ...

. Symons conducted a long-lasting relationship with a secret lover who has never been identified, commemorated in his book ''Amoris Victima''; in 1901 (19 June) he married Rhoda Bowser, an aspiring actress and eldest daughter of a Newcastle-upon-Tyne shipping magnate. In 1902, Symons made a selection from his earlier verse, published as ''Poems''. He translated from the Italian of Gabriele D'Annunzio ''The Dead City'' (1900) and ''The Child of Pleasure'' (1898), and from the French of

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''The Dawn'' (1898). To ''The Poems of

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'' (1905) he prefixed an essay on the deceased poet, who was a kind of English Verlaine and had many attractions for Symons. In 1909 Symons suffered a

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breakdown, and published very little new work for a period of more than twenty years. His wife Rhoda took over the management of his affairs. His ''Confessions: A Study in Pathology'' (1930) has a moving description of his breakdown and treatment. In 1918, '' Vanity Fair'' magazine published Symons' Baudelarian essay, "The Gateway to an Artificial Paradise: The Effects of Hashish and Opium Compared." On one occasion between 1889 and 1895, John Addington Symonds,

, and "some of Symons’ lady friends from the ballet all tried hashish during an afternoon tea given by Symons in his rooms at Fountain Court." His wife died in Tenterden Kent in 1936; Symons died probably in the same house (Island Cottage, Back Street, Kingsgate) in 1945.

Verse and drama

*''Days and Nights'' (1889) *''Silhouettes'' (1892) *''The Minister's Call'' (1892). A Play. *''London Nights'' (1895) a poetry collection including 'To Muriel: At the Opera' *''Amoris victima'' (1897) *''Images of Good and Evil'' (1899) *''Poems'' in 2 volumes (contains: ''The Loom of Dreams'' in the second volume, 1901), (1902) *''Lyrics'' (1903): An anthology of poetry published in the US only. *''A Book of Twenty Songs'' (1905) *''The Fool of the World and other Poems'' (1906) *''A Book of Parodies'' (1908) *''Poems by Arthur Symons'' in 2 volumes (1911) *''Knave of Hearts'' (1913). Poems written between 1894 and 1908. *''The Toy Cart'' (1916). A Play. *''Tristan and Iseult: A Play in Four Acts'' (1917) *''Tragedies'' (1922) *''Love's Cruelty'' (1923) *''Jezebel Mort, and other poems'' (1931)

Essays

*''An Introduction to the study of Browning'' (1886) *''Studies in Two Literatures'' (1897) *''Aubrey Beardsley: An Essay with a Preface'' (1898) *'' The Symbolist Movement in Literature'' (1899; 1919 revised and enlarged)
''Cities''
(1903), word-pictures of Rome, Venice, Naples, Seville, etc. *''Plays, Acting and Music'' (1903) *''Studies in Prose and Verse'' (1904) *''Studies in Seven Arts'' (1906) *''William Blake'' (1907) *''Dante Gabriel Rossetti'' nternational Art Series No. I(1910) *''Figures of Several Centuries'' (1916) *''Cities and Sea-Coasts and Islands'' (1918) *''Colour Studies in Paris'' (1918) *"The Gateway to an Artificial Paradise: The Effects of Hashish and Opium Compared" (1918) *''Studies in the Elizabethan Drama'' (1919) *''Charles Baudelaire: A Study'' (1920) *''Dramatis Personae'' (1925 – US edition 1923) *''The Cafe Royal and other Essays'' (1923) *''Notes on Joseph Conrad with some Unpublished Letters'' (1925) *''From Toulouse-Lautrec to Rodin'' (1929) *''Studies in Strange Souls'' (1929). Studies of Rossetti and Swinburne. *''Confessions: A Study in Pathology'' (1930). A book containing Symons's description of his breakdown and treatment. *''Wanderings'' (1931) *''A Study of Walter Pater'' (1932)

Fiction

*''Spiritual Adventures'' (1905). ** With an autobiographical sketch and extracts from the 'Life of Lucy Newcome' based on his lover 'Muriel' (Edith Broadbent) **includes the short story "Esther Kahn" which was developed into the film ''Esther Kahn''.

References

External links

* * * *
Poems by Arthur SymonsSelected poems by Arthur William Symons
includes several poems by Symons
London nights
Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection.
Cornell University Library Digital Collections

Arthur Symons Papers
at the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York, NY
Finding aid to Karl Beckson papers on Arthur Symons on Samuel Beckett at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.''The Toy Cart'' by Arthur Symons on Great War Theatre
* Arthur Symons Collection. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Symons, Arthur 1865 births 1945 deaths British poets People from Milford Haven British male poets