Lilian Helen Bowes Lyon (1895–1949) was a British poet.

Biography

Born 23 December 1895 at

Ridley Hall, Northumberland Ridley Hall is an 18th-century country house, now a residential and conference centre, at Bardon Mill, Northumberland. It is a Grade II listed building. History A 16th-century house on the site was owned by the Ridley family of Willimoteswick.' ...

. She was the youngest daughter of the Honourable Francis Bowes Lyon. and was a first cousin of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. During the First World War, Bowes Lyon helped at

Glamis Castle Glamis Castle is situated beside the village of Glamis (, ) in Angus, Scotland. It is the home of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and is open to the public. Glamis Castle has been the home of the Lyon family since the 14th century, thoug ...

(owned by her uncle) which became a

convalescence home A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

for soldiers. Her brother Charles Bowes Lyon was killed in the war on 23 October 1914, inspiring her poem "Battlefield" which was later published in ''Bright Feather Fading''. After the Great War, Bowes Lyon studied for a time at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and then moved to London. She was independently wealthy. In 1929, she met the writer

William Plomer William Charles Franklyn Plomer (10 December 1903 – 20 September 1973) was a South African and British novelist, poet and literary editor. He also wrote a series of librettos for Benjamin Britten. He wrote some of his poetry under the pseud ...

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 ...

and through him,

Laurens van der Post Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, (13 December 1906 – 15 December 1996) was a South African Afrikaner writer, farmer, soldier, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer and conservationist. He was noted for his interest in Jun ...

. She published two novels, ''The Buried Stream'' (1929) and ''Under the Spreading Tree'' (1931) but thereafter focused on poetry. Bowes Lyon published six individual collections with

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

and a ''Collected Poems'' in 1948. Her "Collected Poems" contains an introduction by C. Day-Lewis, who noted the influences of

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...

Hopkins Hopkins is an English, Welsh and Irish patronymic surname. The English name means "son of Hob". ''Hob'' was a diminutive of ''Robert'', itself deriving from the Germanic warrior name ''Hrod-berht'', translated as "renowned-fame". The Robert spell ...

and

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Brit ...

. Her verse appeared in many periodicals and anthologies including ''

The Adelphi ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', '' Country Life'', ''Kingdom Come'', '' The Listener'', '' The London Mercury'', '' The Lyric'' (USA), ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', ''Orion'', ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'', ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'', '' Time and Tide'' and "Poetry" (USA). During the Second World War, Bowes Lyon moved to the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

, where she used the

Tilbury Docks The Port of Tilbury is a port on the River Thames at Tilbury in Essex, England. It is the principal port for London, as well as being the main United Kingdom port for handling the importation of paper. There are extensive facilities for contai ...

unofficial

air raid shelter Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but many ...

and assisted with nursing the injured. She had several amputations due to

thromboangiitis obliterans Thromboangiitis obliterans, also known as Buerger disease (English ; ) or Winiwarter-Buerger disease, is a recurring progressive inflammation and thrombosis (clotting) of small and medium arteries and veins of the hands and feet. It is strongly a ...

(Buerger's Disease), losing toes, a foot, her lower legs and eventually both her legs below her hips. She returned to her home in Kensington and continued to write poetry despite the thromboangiitis obliterans beginning to affect her hands. These poems, found amongst William Plomer’s papers at

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

, were published in "Uncollected Poems" by Tragara Press. She died on 25 July 1949.

Works

*The Buried Stream (Jonathan Cape, 1929) novel *Under the Spreading Tree (Jonathan Cape, 1931) novel as D J Cotman *The White Hare (Jonathan Cape, 1934) poems *Bright Feather Fading (Jonathan Cape, 1936) poems *Tomorrow is a Revealing (Jonathan Cape, 1941) poems *Evening in Stepney (Jonathan Cape, 1943) poemsThe book includes 7 poems as follows: ''Evening in Stepney; Death in Summer; Oxford in November; The Small Hours; Industrial City by Moonlight; Man; A Hand''. *A Rough Walk Home (Jonathan Cape, 1946) poems *Collected Poems (Jonathan Cape, 1948) *Uncollected Poems (Tragara Press, 1981)

References

External links

The Queen mothers rebel cousin

wikilivres.ru

About ''Evening in Stepney''

About her books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowes Lyon, Lilian 1895 births 1949 deaths English women poets

Lilian Bowes Lyon Lilian Helen Bowes Lyon (1895–1949) was a British poet. Biography Born 23 December 1895 at Ridley Hall, Northumberland. She was the youngest daughter of the Honourable Francis Bowes Lyon. and was a first cousin of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, ...

20th-century English poets 20th-century English women writers