Kathleen Jessie Raine

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(14 June 1908 – 6 July 2003) was a British

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

, and

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

, writing in particular on

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

and Thomas Taylor. Known for her interest in various forms of

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

, most prominently

Platonism Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary platonists do not necessarily accept all of the doctrines of Plato. Platonism had a profound effect on Western thought. Platonism at le ...

and

Neoplatonism Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonism, Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and Hellenistic religion, religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of ...

, she was a founding member of the

Temenos Academy The Temenos Academy, or Temenos Academy of Integral Studies, is an educational charity in London which aims to offer education in philosophy and the arts in what it calls "the light of the sacred traditions of East and West". The academy's bac ...

Life

Kathleen Raine was born in Ilford,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, the only child of schoolmaster and Methodist lay preacher George Raine, from

Wingate, County Durham Wingate is a village in County Durham, England. Wingate is a former pit village with a mixture of 19th-century, post-war, and more recent housing developments. It was originally inhabited by around 30 farmers before 1839 when coal was discovere ...

, and Jessie (née Wilkie), a Scot who spoke Scots as her first language. The Raines had met as students at Armstrong College in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. Raine spent part of World War I, 'a few short years', with her Aunty Peggy Black at the manse in Great Bavington,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. She commented, "I loved everything about it." For her it was an idyllic world and is the declared foundation of all her poetry. Raine always remembered Northumberland as Eden: "In Northumberland I knew myself in my own place; and I never 'adjusted' myself to any other or forgot what I had so briefly but clearly seen and understood and experienced." This period is described in the first book of her autobiography, ''Farewell Happy Fields'' (1973).Couzyn, Jeni (1985) ''Contemporary Women Poets''. Bloodaxe, p. 57 Raine noted that poetry was deeply ingrained in the daily lives of her maternal ancestors: "On my mother's side I inherited Scotland's songs and ballads…sung or recited by my mother, aunts and grandmothers, who had learnt it from their mothers and grandmothers… Poetry was the very essence of life." Raine heard and read the Bible daily at home and at school, coming to know much of it by heart. Her father was an English master at County High School in Ilford. He had studied the poetry of

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

for his M.Litt. thesis and had a passion for

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and Raine saw many Shakespearean plays as a child. From her father she gained a love of

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

and the literary aspect of poetry, the counterpart to her immersion in the poetic oral traditions. She wrote that for her poetry was "not something invented but given…Brought up as I was in a household where poets were so regarded it naturally became my ambition to be a poet". She confided her ambition to her father who was sceptical of the plan. "To my father" she wrote "poets belonged to a higher world, to another plane; to say one wished to become a poet was to him something like saying one wished to write the fifth gospel".Couzyn, Jeni (1985) ''Contemporary Women Poets''. Bloodaxe, p. 58 Her mother encouraged Raine's poetry from infancy. Raine was educated at County High School, Ilford, and then read natural sciences, including botany and zoology, on an Exhibition at

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status ...

, receiving her master's degree in 1929. While in Cambridge she met

Jacob Bronowski Jacob Bronowski (18 January 1908 – 22 August 1974) was a Polish-British mathematician and philosopher. He was known to friends and professional colleagues alike by the nickname Bruno. He is best known for developing a humanistic approach to sc ...

William Empson Sir William Empson (27 September 1906 – 15 April 1984) was an English literary critic and poet, widely influential for his practice of closely reading literary works, a practice fundamental to New Criticism. His best-known work is his first ...

Humphrey Jennings Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings (19 August 1907 – 24 September 1950) was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organisation. Jennings was described by film critic and director Lindsay Anderson in 195 ...

and

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.

. In later life she was a friend and colleague of the kabbalist author and teacher,

Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi (English name Warren Kenton, 8 January 1933 - 21 September 2020) was an author of books on the Toledano Tradition of Kabbalah, a teacher of the discipline, with a worldwide following, and a founding member of the Kabbala ...

. Raine married Hugh Sykes Davies in 1930. She left Davies for

Charles Madge Charles Henry Madge (10 October 1912 – 17 January 1996) was an English poet, journalist and sociologist, now most remembered as a founder of Mass-Observation. Philip Bounds, ''Orwell and Marxism: the political and cultural thinking of George ...

and they had two children together, but their marriage also broke up as a result of Charles' affair with

Inez Pearn Marie Agnes Pearn (1913–1976), known as Inez Pearn and by the pen name Elizabeth Lake, was a British novelist who was acclaimed for her "remorseless interest in emotional truth", her "formidable ... characterisation", and her ability to evoke pl ...

, at that time married to the poet

Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by the ...

. She also held an unrequited passion for

Gavin Maxwell Gavin Maxwell FRSL FZS FRGS (15 July 19147 September 1969) was a British naturalist and author, best known for his non-fiction writing and his work with otters. He wrote the book ''Ring of Bright Water'' (1960) about how he brought an otter ...

. The title of Maxwell's most famous book ''

Ring of Bright Water ''Ring of Bright Water'' is a book by Gavin Maxwell about his life in a remote house in coastal Scotland where he kept several wild otters as pets. First published in 1960, it became a best seller and is considered a literary masterpiece, event ...

'', subsequently made into a film of the same name starring

Bill Travers William Inglis Lindon Travers (3 January 1922 – 29 March 1994) was a British actor, screenwriter, director and animal rights activist. Prior to his show business career, he served in the British army with Gurkha and special forces units. E ...

and

Virginia McKenna Dame Virginia Anne McKenna, (born 7 June 1931) is a British stage and screen actress, author and wildlife campaigner. She is best known for the films ''A Town Like Alice'' (1956), '' Carve Her Name with Pride'' (1958), ''Born Free'' (1966), and ...

, was taken from a line in Raine's poem "The Marriage of Psyche". The relationship with Maxwell ended in 1956 when Raine lost his pet otter, Mijbil, indirectly causing the animal's death. Raine held herself responsible, not only for losing Mijbil but for a curse she had uttered shortly beforehand, frustrated by Maxwell's homosexuality: "Let Gavin suffer in this place as I am suffering now." Raine blamed herself thereafter for all Maxwell's misfortunes, beginning with Mijbil's death and ending with the cancer from which he died in 1969. From 1939 to 1941, Raine and her children shared a house at 49a Wordsworth Street in Penrith with

Janet Adam Smith Janet Buchanan Adam Smith OBE (9 December 1905 – 11 September 1999) was a writer, editor, literary journalist and champion of Scottish literature. She was active from the 1930s through to the end of the century and noted for her elegant prose, ...

and Michael Roberts and later lived in Martindale. She was a friend of

Winifred Nicholson ''From Bedroom Window, Bankshead'', date unknown, private collection. Typical of Nicholson's impressionist work, combining still life with landscape. Rosa Winifred Nicholson (née Roberts; 21 December 1893 – 5 March 1981) was a British p ...

. Raine's two children were Anna Hopwell Madge (born 1934) and James Wolf Madge (1936–2006). In 1959, James married Jennifer Alliston, the daughter of Raine's friend, architect and town planner

Jane Drew Dame Jane Drew , (24 March 1911 – 27 July 1996) was an English modernist architect and town planner. She qualified at the Architectural Association School in London, and prior to World War II became one of the leading exponents of the Modern ...

with architect James Alliston. At the time of her death, following an accident, Raine lived in London. She died of pneumonia after being knocked over by a reversing car after having posted a letter.

Works

Her first book of poetry, ''Stone And Flower'' (1943), was published by

Tambimuttu Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu (15 August 1915 – 23 June 1983) was a Tamil poet, editor, critic and publisher, who for many years played a significant part on the literary scenes of London and New York City. He founded in 1939 the respecte ...

, and illustrated by

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...

. In 1946 the collection, ''Living in Time'', was released, followed by ''The Pythoness'' in 1949. Her ''Collected Poems'' (2000) drew from eleven previous volumes of poetry. Her classics include ''Who Are We?'' There were many subsequent prose and poetry works, including her scholarly masterwork, the two-volume ''Blake and Tradition'' (published in 1969, and derived from the Andrew Mellon Lectures she delivered at the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

in Washington D.C in 1968), which demonstrated the antiquity, coherence and integrity of

's philosophy, refuting T S Eliot's assertion to the contrary (''Collected Essays'', 1932). The story of her life is told in a three-volume autobiography notable for the author's attempts to impose a structure on her memories that is quasi mythical, thus relating her own life to a larger pattern. This reflects patterns in her poetry, influenced by

. The three books were originally published separately and later brought together in a single volume, entitled ''Autobiographies'' (in conscious imitation of Yeats), edited by Lucien Jenkins. Raine made translations of

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...

's ''Cousine Bette'' (Cousin Bette, 1948) and ''Illusions perdues'' (''Lost Illusions'', 1951). She was a frequent contributor to the quarterly journal, Studies in Comparative Religion, which dealt with

religious symbolism A religious symbol is an iconic representation intended to represent a specific religion, or a specific concept within a given religion. Religious symbols have been used in the military in many countries, such as the United States military chapl ...

and the Traditionalist perspective. With Keith Critchlow, Brian Keeble and Philip Sherrard she co-founded, in 1981, ''Temenos'', a periodical, and later, in 1990, the

of Integral Studies, a teaching academy that stressed a multistranded universalist philosophy, and in support of her generally

Platonist Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and school of thought, philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary platonists do not necessarily accept all of the doctrines of Plato. Platonism had a profound effect on Western though ...

and

Neoplatonist Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some ide ...

views on poetry and culture. She studied Thomas Taylor and published a selection of his works. Raine was a research fellow at

Girton College Girton College is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1 ...

from 1955 to 1961. She taught at Harvard for at least one course about Myth and Literature offered to teachers and professors in the summer. She also spoke on Yeats and Blake and other topics at the Yeats School in Sligo, Ireland, in the summer of 1974. A professor at Cambridge and the author of a number of scholarly books, she was an expert on Coleridge, Blake, and Yeats. The contemporary composer David Matthews has written a song-cycle, ''The Golden Kingdom'', on some of Raine's poems.

Richard Rodney Bennett Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer of film, TV and concert music, and also a jazz pianist and occasional vocalist. He was based in New York City from 1979 until his death there in 2012.Zachary Woo ...

's "Spells" (1974–75), a work for soprano, chorus, and large orchestra, is set to texts by Raine.

Honours

Raine received honorary doctorates from universities in the United Kingdom, France and the United States and won numerous awards and honors, including the Edna St. Vincent Millay Prize from the American Poetry Society (date unknown), and also: * 1952 Harriet Monroe Memorial Prize * 1953 Arts Council Award * 1961 Oscar Blumenthal Prize * 1970

Cholmondeley Award The Cholmondeley Awards () are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has bee ...

* 1972 Smith Literary Award * 1976 Warton Lecture on English Poetry * 1992

Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry is awarded for a book of verse published by someone in any of the Commonwealth realms. Originally the award was open only to British subjects living in the United Kingdom, but in 1985 the scope was extended to in ...

* 2000

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, Commander * 2000

L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

, Commandeur

Bibliography

Poetry collections

* ''Stone and Flower'', Nicholson and Watson, 1943 * ''Living in Time'', Editions Poetry London, 1946 * ''The Pythoness, and other poems'', H. Hamilton, 1949 * ''The Year One: Poems'', H. Hamilton, 1952 * ''Collected poems'', H. Hamilton, 1956 * ''The Hollow Hill: and other poems, 1960–1964'', H. Hamilton, 1965 * ''Six Dreams, and other poems'', Enitharmon, 1968 * ''Penguin Modern Poets 17 (David Gascoyne, W.S. Graham, Kathleen Raine)'', Penguin, 1970 * ''Lost Country'', Dolmen Press, 1971 * ''On a Deserted Shore'', Dolmen Press, 1973. ''En una desierta orilla'' Trad. de R. Martínez Nadal. M., Hiperión, 1981. * ''The Oval Portrait, and other poems'', Enitharmon Press, 1977 * ''The Oracle in the Heart, and other poems, 1975–1978'', Dolmen Press/G. Allen & Unwin, 1980 * ''Collected poems, 1935–1980'', Allen & Unwin, 1981 * ''The Presence: Poems, 1984–87'', Golgonooza Press, 1987 * ''Selected Poems'', Golgonooza Press, 1988 * ''Living with Mystery: Poems 1987-91'', Golgonooza Press, 1992 * ''The Collected Poems of Kathleen Raine'', Golgonooza Press, 2000 * ''The Collected Poems of Kathleen Raine'', Faber and Faber, 2019 (pbk.)

Prose

* ''Defending Ancient Springs'', 1967 * '' Thomas Taylor the Platonist. Selected Writings'', Raine, K. and Harper, G.M., eds., Bollingen Series 88, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969 (also pub. Princeton University, USA) * ''Blake and Tradition'', 2 Volumes, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969 * ''William Blake'', The World of Art Library - Artists, Arts Book Society, Thames and Hudson, London, 1970 (216 pp, 156 illustrations) * ''Yeats, the Tarot and the Golden Dawn'', Dolmen Press, 1973 * ''The Inner Journey of the Poet'', Golgonooza Press, 1976 * '' Cecil Collins: Painter of Paradise'', Golgonooza Press, 1979 * ''From Blake to a Vision'', Dolmen Press, 1979 * ''Blake and the New Age'', George Allen and Unwin, 1979 * ''Blake and Antiquity'', Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979 (an abbreviation of the 1969 ''Blake and Tradition''; republished in 2002 by Routledge Classics with a new introduction by Raine) * ''The Human Face of God: William Blake and the Book of Job'', Thames and Hudson, 1982 * ''The Inner Journey of the Poet, and other papers'', ed. Brian Keeble, Allen & Unwin, 1982 * ''Yeats the Initiate'', George Allen & Unwin, 1987 * ''W.B. Yeats and the Learning of the Imagination'', Golgonooza Press, 1999. * ''Seeing God Everywhere: Essays on Nature and the Sacred'',

World Wisdom World Wisdom is an independent American publishing company established in 1980 in Bloomington, Indiana. World Wisdom publishes religious and philosophical texts, including the work of authors such as Frithjof Schuon, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Titus Bu ...

, 2004 (contributed essay) * ''The Betrayal of Tradition: Essays on the Spiritual Crisis of Modernity'', World Wisdom, 2005 (contributed essay) * ''That Wondrous Pattern: Essays on Poetry and Poets'', Counterpoint Press, 2017 * ''These Bright Shadows: The Poetry of Kathleen Raine'', by Brian Keeble. A pioneering study of the poetic imagination of Kathleen Raine. (Angelico Press, 2020)

Autobiography

* ''Farewell Happy Fields'', Hamilton/G. Braziller, 1974 * ''The Land Unknown'', Hamilton/G. Braziller, 1975 * ''The Lion's Mouth'', Hamilton/G. Braziller, 1977. autob. * ''India Seen Afar'', Green Books/G. Braziller, 1990 * ''Autobiographies'', ed. Lucien Jenkins, Skoob Books, 1991

Biography

''No End to Snowdrops'', Philippa Bernard. Shepheard-Walwyn (Publishers) Ltd, 2009,

Adaptations

* ''Who stands at the door in the storm and rain'' from ''The Year One: Poems'' (1952) was set by composer

Tarik O'Regan Tarik Hamilton O'Regan (; born 1 January 1978) is a British and American composer. His compositions number over 100 and are partially represented on 43 recordings which have been recognised with two Grammy nominations. He is also the recipien ...

for unaccompanied chorus in 2006 with the title ''Threshold of Night''; it was first recorded on the 2008 album of the same name. * A number of poems were also set by

Geoffrey Bush Geoffrey Bush (23 March 1920 – 24 February 1998) was a British composer, teacher and music scholar. Largely without formal training in composition, he produced a wide range of compositions across different genres, including many songs and wor ...

; these settings were recorded by

Benjamin Luxon Benjamin Matthew Luxon (born 24 March 1937, Redruth, Cornwall) is a retired British baritone. Biography He studied with Walther Gruner at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (while working part-time as a PE teacher in the East End) and est ...

for Chandos. * The song-cycle ''On a Deserted Shore'' by Joseph Phibbs was written and performed for the

in 2012 to texts by Kathleen Raine. * ''A Spell For Creation'' was set by composer

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

in the soundtrack for the documentary film '' The Space Movie''.

References

External links

Profile and poems, written and audio at the Poetry Archive

Guide to the Kathleen Raine Papers.
Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Temenos Academy
*
Kathleen Raine collection
at University of Victoria, Special Collections
Lengthy interview
of Raine by

Naim Attallah Naim Ibrahim Attallah ( ar, نعيم إبراهيم عطالله, 1 May 1931 – 2 February 2021) was a Christian Palestinian-British businessman and writer. He was the publisher of Quartet Books and the owner of The Women's Press. The Palest ...

Kathleen Raine Papers
at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raine, Kathleen 1908 births 2003 deaths 20th-century biographers 20th-century English historians 20th-century English non-fiction writers 20th-century English poets 20th-century English women writers 20th-century essayists 20th-century memoirists 20th-century translators 21st-century essayists Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge British women literary critics Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Cultural critics Deaths from pneumonia English autobiographers English biographers English essayists English historians of philosophy English literary critics English literary historians English memoirists English people of Scottish descent English spiritual writers English translators English women non-fiction writers English women poets Harvard University staff Lecturers Literacy and society theorists Literary theorists People from Ilford Neoplatonists Social critics Traditionalist School William Blake scholars Writers about activism and social change Writers from Essex W. B. Yeats scholars