Georgian Poetry refers to a series of

anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...

showcasing the work of a school of English poetry that established itself during the early years of the reign of King

George V of the United Kingdom George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

. The Georgian poets were, by the strictest definition, those whose works appeared in a series of five anthologies named ''Georgian Poetry'', published by

Harold Monro Harold Edward Monro (14 March 1879 – 16 March 1932) was an English poet born in Brussels, Belgium. As the proprietor of the Poetry Bookshop in London, he helped many poets to bring their work before the public. Life and career Monro was born ...

and edited by Edward Marsh, the first volume of which contained poems written in 1911 and 1912. The group included

Edmund Blunden Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) was an English poet, author, and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was a ...

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915)The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. was an En ...

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for a highly acclaimed selection of ...

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both describ ...

, and John Drinkwater. Until the final two volumes, the decision had not been taken to include female poets.

History

The period of publication was sandwiched between the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

, with its strict classicism, and

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

, with its strident rejection of pure

aestheticism Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century which privileged the aesthetic value of literature, music and the arts over their socio-political functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be pro ...

. The common features of the poems in these publications were

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

sentimentality Sentimentality originally indicated the reliance on feelings as a guide to truth, but in current usage the term commonly connotes a reliance on shallow, uncomplicated emotions at the expense of reason. Sentimentalism in philosophy is a view in ...

, and

hedonism Hedonism refers to a family of theories, all of which have in common that pleasure plays a central role in them. ''Psychological'' or ''motivational hedonism'' claims that human behavior is determined by desires to increase pleasure and to decr ...

. Later critics have attempted to revise the definition of the term as a description of poetic style, thereby including some new names or excluding some old ones.

W. H. Davies William Henry Davies (3 July 1871 – 26 September 1940) was a Welsh poet and writer, who spent much of his life as a tramp or hobo in the United Kingdom and the United States, yet became one of the most popular poets of his time. His themes inc ...

, a contemporary, is sometimes included within the grouping, although his "innocent style" differs markedly from that of the others. In the 1930s,

Henry Newbolt Sir Henry John Newbolt, CH (6 June 1862 – 19 April 1938) was an English poet, novelist and historian. He also had a role as a government adviser with regard to the study of English in England. He is perhaps best remembered for his poems "Vit ...

"estimated there were still at least 1000 active poets" in England, and that "the vast majority would be recognisably 'Georgian'". Edward Marsh was the general editor of the series and the centre of the circle of Georgian poets, which included

. It has been suggested that Brooke himself took a hand in some of the editorial choices. The idea for an anthology began as a joke, when Marsh,

Duncan Grant Duncan James Corrowr Grant (21 January 1885 – 8 May 1978) was a British painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group. His father was Bartle Grant, a "poverty-stricken" major i ...

, and

George Mallory George Herbert Leigh Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s. Born in Cheshire, Mallory became a student at Winchest ...

decided, one evening in 1912, to publish a parody of the many small poetry books that were appearing at the time. After some discussion, they decided to pursue the idea in all seriousness. Marsh and Brooke approached poet and bookseller Harold Monro, who had recently opened The Poetry Bookshop at 35 Devonshire Street, in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

, London. He agreed to publish the book in return for a half share of the profits. After the third volume, Marsh decided that it was time to include a female poet. His choice was

Fredegond Shove Fredegond Cecily Shove ( ) (''née'' Maitland; 1889–1949) was an English poet. Two collections of her poetry were published in her lifetime, and a small selection also appeared after her death. Early life and publications Fredegond Cecily Mai ...

, although other associates suggested

Edith Sitwell Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell (7 September 1887 – 9 December 1964) was a British poet and critic and the eldest of the three literary Sitwells. She reacted badly to her eccentric, unloving parents and lived much of her life with her governess ...

Charlotte Mew Charlotte Mary Mew (15 November 1869 – 24 March 1928) was an English poet whose work spans the eras of Victorian poetry and Modernism. Early life and education Mew was born in Bloomsbury, London, daughter of the architect Frederick Mew (1 ...

, and

Rose Macaulay Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel ''The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spiritua ...

. He included four poems from Shove's recent first collection, ''Dreams and Journeys'' (1918), including among them "The New Soul", a quasi-mystical approach to a religious subject that went on to attract the notice of critics. The final volume contained seven poems from the fifth collection of

Vita Sackville-West Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer. Sackville-West was a successful novelist, poet and journalist, as wel ...

, ''Orchard and Vineyard'' (1921). Subsequent to the final anthology of five, further collections appeared, edited by

J. C. Squire Sir John Collings Squire (2 April 1884 – 20 December 1958) was a British writer, most notable as editor of the ''London Mercury'', a major literary magazine in the interwar period. He antagonised several eminent authors, but attracted a coterie ...

, which were probably intended to take on the mantle. The subsequent fate of the Georgian poets (inevitably known as the ''Squirearchy'') then became an aspect of the critical debate surrounding

modernist poetry Modernist poetry refers to poetry written between 1890 and 1950 in the tradition of modernist literature, but the dates of the term depend upon a number of factors, including the nation of origin, the particular school in question, and the biases ...

, as marked by the publication of T. S. Eliot's ''

The Waste Land ''The Waste Land'' is a poem by T. S. Eliot, widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. Published in 1922, the 434-line poem first appeared in the United Kingdom in the Octob ...

'' at just that time. The Georgian poets became something of a by-word for conservatism, but at the time of the early anthologies they saw themselves as modern (if not modernist) and progressive. The most important figures, in literary terms, would now be considered

and

, neither of them 'typical'.James Bridges
"Georgian Poetry"
The Literary Encyclopedia, First published 31 July 2002; last revised 30 November.

''Georgian Poetry 1911-12'' (1912)

Lascelles Abercrombie Lascelles Abercrombie, (9 January 1881 – 27 October 1938) was a British poet and literary critic, one of the "Dymock poets". After the First World War he worked as a professor of English literature in a number of English universities, w ...

Gordon Bottomley Gordon Bottomley (20 February 187425 August 1948) was an English poet, known particularly for his verse dramas. He was partly disabled by tubercular illness. His main influences were the later Victorian Romantic poets, the Pre-Raphaelites and W ...

- G. K. Chesterton -

- John Drinkwater -

James Elroy Flecker James Elroy Flecker (5 November 1884 – 3 January 1915) was a British novelist and playwright. As a poet, he was most influenced by the Parnassian poets. Biography Herman Elroy Flecker was born on 5 November 1884 in Lewisham, London, to Willi ...

W. W. Gibson Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (2 October 1878 – 26 May 1962) was a British Georgian poet, associated with World War I but also the author of much later work. Early work Gibson was born in Hexham, Northumberland, and left the north for London in 1914 ...

John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ...

T. Sturge Moore Thomas Sturge Moore (4 March 1870 – 18 July 1944) was a British poet, author and artist. Biography Sturge Moore was born at 3 Wellington Square, Hastings, East Sussex, on 4 March 1870 and educated at Dulwich College, the Croydon School ...

Ronald Ross Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was a British medical doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate, and the ...

Edmund Beale Sargant Edmund Beale Sargant (19 March 1855 – 1 October 1938) was a colonial administrator in the British Empire, particularly notable for his policy of introducing English in the South African educational system in the first years of the twentieth cent ...

- James Stephens - R. C. Trevelyan

''Georgian Poetry 1913-15'' (1915)

- Gordon Bottomley - Rupert Brooke - W. H. Davies - Walter de la Mare - John Drinkwater - J. E. Flecker - W. W. Gibson -

Ralph Hodgson Ralph Hodgson (9 September 1871 – 3 November 1962), Order of the Rising Sun (Japanese 旭日章), was an English poet, very popular in his lifetime on the strength of a small number of anthology pieces, such as ''The Bull''. He was one of th ...

- D. H. Lawrence -

F. Ledwidge Francis Edward Ledwidge (19 August 188731 July 1917) was a 20th-century Irish poet. From Slane, County Meath, and sometimes known as the "poet of the blackbirds", he was later also known as a World War I, First World War war poet. He befriended ...

- John Masefield - Harold Monro - James Stephens

''Georgian Poetry 1916-17'' (1917)

Herbert Asquith -

Maurice Baring Maurice Baring (27 April 1874 – 14 December 1945) was an English man of letters, known as a dramatist, poet, novelist, translator and essayist, and also as a travel writer and war correspondent, with particular knowledge of Russia. During Wo ...

- W. H. Davies - Walter de la Mare - John Drinkwater - John Freeman - W. W. Gibson -

- John Masefield - Harold Monro - Robert Nichols -

Isaac Rosenberg Isaac Rosenberg (25 November 1890 – 1 April 1918) was an English poet and artist. His ''Poems from the Trenches'' are recognized as some of the most outstanding poetry written during the First World War. Early life Isaac Rosenberg was born ...

- James Stephens -

W. J. Turner Walter James Redfern Turner (13 October 1884 – 18 November 1946) was an Australian-born, English-domiciled writer and critic.McKenna, C. W. F., (1990). nlineTurner, Walter James Redfern (1884–1946), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' ...

''Georgian Poetry 1918-19'' (1919)

- Gordon Bottomley -

Francis Brett Young Francis Brett Young (29 June 1884 – 28 March 1954) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, composer, doctor and soldier. Life Francis Brett Young was born in Halesowen, Worcestershire. He received his early education at Iona, a pri ...

- W. H. Davies - Walter de la Mare - John Drinkwater - John Freeman - W. W. Gibson - Robert Graves - D. H. Lawrence- Harold Monro - Thomas Moult - Robert Nichols - J. D. C. Pellow - Siegfried Sassoon -

Edward Shanks Edward Richard Buxton Shanks (11 June 1892 – 4 May 1953) was an English writer, known as a war poet of World War I, then as an academic and journalist, and literary critic and biographer. He also wrote some science fiction. E. F. Bleiler and Rich ...

- J. C. Squire - W. J. Turner

''Georgian Poetry 1920-22'' (1922)

Lascelles Abercrombie - Martin Armstrong -

- Francis Brett Young - W. H. Davies - Walter de la Mare - John Drinkwater - John Freeman - Richard Hughes - William Kerr - D. H. Lawrence - Harold Monro - Robert Nichols - J. D. C. Pellow - Frank Prewett - Peter Quennell -

- Edward Shanks - J. C. Squire

Books

*''Georgian Revolt: Rise and Fall of a Poetic Ideal, 1910-22'' by Robert H Ross

References

{{reflist

External links

Elizabeth Whitcomb Houghton Collection
Online at Project Gutenberg:
Georgian Poetry 1911-12 Georgian Poetry 1913-15 Georgian Poetry 1916-17 Georgian Poetry 1918-19 Georgian Poetry 1920-22
1912 poetry books 1915 poetry books 1917 poetry books 1919 poetry books 1922 poetry books English poetry anthologies 20th-century British literature

History

''Georgian Poetry 1911-12'' (1912)

''Georgian Poetry 1913-15'' (1915)

''Georgian Poetry 1916-17'' (1917)

''Georgian Poetry 1918-19'' (1919)

''Georgian Poetry 1920-22'' (1922)

See also

Books

References

External links