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Michael Field was a
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
used for the
poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
and
verse drama Verse drama is any drama written significantly in verse (that is: with line endings) to be performed by an actor before an audience. Although verse drama does not need to be ''primarily'' in verse to be considered verse drama, significant portion ...
of the English authors Katherine Harris Bradley (27 October 1846 – 26 September 1914) and her niece and ward Edith Emma Cooper (12 January 1862 – 13 December 1913). As Field they wrote around 40 works together, and a long journal ''Works and Days''. Their intention was to keep the pen-name secret, but it became public knowledge, not long after they had confided in their friend
Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...
.


Biographies

Katherine Bradley was born on 27 October 1846 in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, the daughter of Charles Bradley, a tobacco manufacturer, and of Emma (née Harris). Her grandfather, also Charles Bradley (1785–1845), was a prominent follower and financial backer of prophetess
Joanna Southcott Joanna Southcott (or Southcote; April 1750 – 26 December 1814) was a self-described religion, religious prophetess from Devon, England. A "Southcottian" movement continued in various forms after her death; its eighth prophet, Mabel Barltrop, ...
and her self-styled successor John "Zion" Ward. She attended lectures at the
Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...
in 1868, and in 1874 she attended a course at
Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sid ...
specially designed for women, who however did not receive a degree for it. Bradley's elder sister, Emma, married James Robert Cooper in 1860, and went to live in
Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a ...
, where their daughter, Edith Emma Cooper was born on 12 January 1862. Emma Cooper became an invalid for life after the birth of her second daughter, Amy, and Katharine Bradley, being her sister, stepped in to become the legal guardian of her niece Edith Cooper. Bradley was for a time involved with Ruskin's utopian project. She published first under the pseudonym Arran Leigh, a nod to
Elizabeth Barrett Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabe ...
. Edith adopted the name Isla Leigh for their first joint publication, ''Bellerophôn''. From the late 1870s, when Edith was at
University College, Bristol University College, Bristol was an educational institution which existed from 1876 to 1909. It was the predecessor institution to the University of Bristol, which gained a royal charter in 1909. During its time the college mainly served the midd ...
, they agreed to live together and were, over the next 40 years,
lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
lovers, and co-authors. Their first joint publication as Michael Field was "Callirhöe and Fair Rosamund" in 1884. The Athenaeum noted that 'the famous Faun song in ‘Callirrhoé,’ which has found its way into many anthologies, the Fairy songs in ‘Fair Rosamund,’ and the whole of the poignant drama of ‘The Father’s Tragedy’ were the work of the younger writer while still a girl.' They had financial independence: Bradley's father Charles Bradley had been in the
tobacco industry The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies who are engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any ...
in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. They were Aestheticists, strongly influenced by the thoughts of Walter Pater. They developed a large circle of literary friends and contacts; in particular painters and life partners
Charles Ricketts Charles de Sousy Ricketts (2 October 1866 – 7 October 1931) was a British artist, illustrator, author and printer, known for his work as a book designer and typographer and for his costume and scenery designs for plays and operas. Ricketts ...
and Charles Shannon, near whom they settled in
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...
, London. Robert Browning was also a close friend of theirs, and they knew and admired
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
, whose death they bitterly mourned. While they were always well connected, the early critical success was not sustained (this is often attributed to the joint identity of Field becoming known). They knew many of the
aesthetic movement 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 prod ...
of the 1890s, including
Walter Pater Walter Horatio Pater (4 August 1839 – 30 July 1894) was an English essayist, art critic and literary critic, and fiction writer, regarded as one of the great stylists. His first and most often reprinted book, ''Studies in the History of the Re ...
,
Vernon Lee Vernon Lee was the pseudonym of the British writer Violet Paget (14 October 1856 – 13 February 1935). She is remembered today primarily for her supernatural fiction and her work on aesthetics. An early follower of Walter Pater, she wrote ...
,
J. A. Symonds John Addington Symonds, Jr. (; 5 October 1840 – 19 April 1893) was an English poet and literary critic. A cultural historian, he was known for his work on the Renaissance, as well as numerous biographies of writers and artists. Although m ...
and also
Bernard Berenson Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. His book ''The Drawings of the Florentine Painters'' was an international success. His wife Mary is thought to have had a large h ...
.
William Rothenstein Sir William Rothenstein (29 January 1872 – 14 February 1945) was an English painter, printmaker, draughtsman, lecturer, and writer on art. Emerging during the early 1890s, Rothenstein continued to make art right up until his death. Though he c ...
was a friend. In 1899 the death of Edith's father enabled them to buy their own house as evidence of their "close marriage", although Edith saw her father's death as retribution for their lifestyle. Edith later led the way in establishing the couple as active Catholics. They wrote a number of passionate love poems to each other, and their name Michael Field was their way of declaring their inseparable oneness. Friends referred to them as the Fields, the Michaels or the Michael Fields. They had a range of pet names for each other. They also were passionately devoted to their pets, in particular a dog named Whym Chow, for whom they wrote a book of poems named after him. Their joint journal starts with an account of Bradley's passion for
Alfred Gérente Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *'' Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interl ...
, an artist in
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
and brother of Henri Gérente, who was of an English background but worked mostly in France. It goes on to document Michael Field as a figure, amongst 'his' literary counterparts, and their lives together. When Whym Chow died in 1906, the emotional pattern of the relationship was disturbed; both women became
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
converts in 1907. Their religious inclinations are reflected in their later works, where their earlier writing is influenced by classical and Renaissance culture, in its pagan aspects particularly,
Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while ...
as understood by the late Victorians, and perhaps
Walter Savage Landor Walter Savage Landor (30 January 177517 September 1864) was an English writer, poet, and activist. His best known works were the prose ''Imaginary Conversations,'' and the poem "Rose Aylmer," but the critical acclaim he received from contempora ...
. A review of their poems in 1908 noted that 'One of the London weeklies, announcing the new volume, comments on the strange anomaly that a poet of "Michael Field’s distinction should have had such slight recognition in this country. A writer in the "
Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
" is quoted as saying that "he is perhaps the greatest of our living lyric poets who are actually writing at this time,” and it is claimed that those who are acquainted with the poet's work must agree with this appreciation. Without entering into the question of comparative merit (says the " Yorkshire Observer"), it may be readily admitted that the poems have had a genuine note of distinction'. The Athenaeum noted that 'Seven years ago both poets were received into the Roman Church, and their definitely Catholic work is represented by two volumes of devotional verse: ‘Poems of Adoration,’ by the younger, and ‘Mystic Trees,’ by the elder writer.' Katherine had found that she had breast cancer in June 1913 and only told her confessor,
Vincent McNabb Vincent McNabb, Ordo Praedicatorum, O.P. (8 July 1868 – 17 June 1943) was an Irish Catholics, Irish Catholic scholar and Dominican Order, Dominican priest based in London, active in evangelisation and Christian apologetics, apologetics. ...
; she had never told Edith, who had been diagnosed with
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
in 1911. Edith died 13 December 1913 at their home, The Paragon,
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...
. Katherine died 26 September 1914, having moved to a cottage near McNabb at
Hawkesyard Priory Hawkesyard Priory was a Dominican priory off Armitage Lane Brereton, Rugeley, Staffordshire, England, built between 1896 and 1914 which included the Roman Catholic Priory Church of St Thomas. History Spode House Originally named "Hawksyard", in ...
,
Rugeley Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is situated north of Lichfield, south-east of Stafford, nort ...
. They are buried together in the cemetery of St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church in Mortlake. In 1923, saddened at their lack of a memorial,
Charles Ricketts Charles de Sousy Ricketts (2 October 1866 – 7 October 1931) was a British artist, illustrator, author and printer, known for his work as a book designer and typographer and for his costume and scenery designs for plays and operas. Ricketts ...
designed one for them of black stone, for which John Gray wrote the epitaph ('United in blood, united in Christ'). However, this tombstone at
St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church Mortlake St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, Mortlake, is a Roman Catholic church in North Worple Way, Mortlake, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The church is dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene. The church building, in Gothic ...
cracked irreparably in 1926, the year in which it was installed, and is now lost. Their extensive diaries are stored in the British Library,Virginia H. Blain, 'Bradley, Katharine Harris (1846–1914)’,
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, September 201
accessed 26 December 2015
/ref> and have been digitised and made available by the Victorian Lives and Letters Consortium. A much-edited selection from the journals, which were two dozen annual volumes in
ledger A ledger is a book or collection of accounts in which account transactions are recorded. Each account has an opening or carry-forward balance, and would record each transaction as either a debit or credit in separate columns, and the ending or ...
s with aspects of scrapbooks combined with a self-conscious literary style of composition, was prepared by
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 ...
, a friend through his mother Marie.


Works


The New Minnesinger and other poems
(London : Longmans, Green, and Co., 1875) poems by Arran Leigh.
Bellerophon
(C. Kegan Paul, 1881) by Arran and Isla Leigh. *Callirrhoe
Fair Rosamund
(1884) verse dramas.
The Father's Tragedy
(1885) verse drama. *William Rufus (1885) verse drama. *Loyalty Or Love? (1885) verse drama. *Brutus Ultor (1886) verse drama. *Canute the Great (1887) verse drama. *The Cup of Water (1887) verse drama. *Long Ago (1889) poems.
The Tragic Mary
(1890) verse drama.
Sight and Song
(1892) E. Mathews and J. Lane, poems *Stephania, a Trialogue (1892) verse drama. *A Question of Memory (1893) drama.Premièred by the
Independent Theatre Society The Independent Theatre Society was a by-subscription-only organisation in London from 1891 to 1897, founded by Dutch drama critic Jacob Grein to give "special performances of plays which have a literary and artistic rather than a commercial value ...
, 27 October 1893
*Underneath the Bough (1893) poems.
Attila, My Attila
(1896) verse drama. *World at Auction (1898)
Vale Press Charles de Sousy Ricketts (2 October 1866 – 7 October 1931) was a British artist, illustrator, author and printer, known for his work as a book designer and typographer and for his costume and scenery designs for plays and operas. Ricketts ...
, verse drama. *Noontide Branches (1899) verse drama. *Anna Ruina (1899) verse drama. *Race of Leaves (1901) Vale Press, verse drama. *Julia Domna (1903) Vale Press, verse drama. *Borgia (1905) verse drama. *Wild Honey from Various Thyme (1908) poems. *Queen Mariamne (1908) verse drama. *Tragedy of Pardon (1911) verse drama. *Tristan de Léonois (1911) verse drama. *Dian (1911) verse drama. *The Accuser (1911) verse drama. *A Messiah (1911) verse drama. *Poems of Adoration (1912). *Mystic Trees (1913) poems. *Whym Chow: Flame of Love (1914) poems. *Ras Byzance (1918) verse drama. *Deirdre (1918) verse drama. *In The Name of Time (1919) verse drama. *Selection (1923). *The Wattlefold: Unpublished Poems (1930). *Works and Days: From the Journal of Michael Field, (1933) edited by
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 ...
(unpublished journals are now available on microfilm) kept from 1888, annual to 1914. *A Shorter Shırazad: 101 Poems of Michael Field (1999) selection by Ivor C. Treby *Where the Blessed Feet Have Trod - poem.


See also

*
Lesbian Poetry A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...


Notes


Bibliography

* Donoghue, Emma, ''We Are Michael Field'' (Absolute Press, 1998) * Prins, Yopie ''Victorian Sappho'' (1999) * Sturgeon, Mary.
Michael Field
' (George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., 1922) * Treby, Ivor C. (ed). ''The Michael Field Catalogue: A Book of Lists'' (1998) * Treby, Ivor C. ''Music and Silence: The Gamut of Michael Field'' (2000) * Vanita, Ruth ''Sappho and the Virgin Mary: Same-Sex Love and the English Literary Imagination'' (1996)


External links

* * * * * *

(Biography and poems - "Isle of Lesbos")
Michael Field
("The Poetry Foundation")

("Women in the Literary Marketplace 1800–1900") *
The Poems of Michael Field
{{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Michael English women poets English lesbian writers Literary collaborations Pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers Collective pseudonyms Writers from Birmingham, West Midlands People from Kenilworth Writing duos Burials at St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church Mortlake Guild of St George