Michael Roberts (6 December 1902 – 13 December 1948), originally named William Edward Roberts, was an English poet, writer, scientist, mathematician, critic and broadcaster, a true polymath who made his living as a teacher.

Life

He was born in Bournemouth, named William Edward Roberts. He was the eldest child of Edward George Roberts (b. 7 January 1878, d. 14 March 1954) and Henrietta Mary Sellers (b. 23 March 1880, d. 28 June 1918 following the birth of a son nine days earlier). They had a farm in the New Forest. He was educated at Bournemouth School. From 1920 to 1922 he studied at King's College London, taking a BSc in Chemistry. From 1922 to 1925 he read mathematics at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

; it was during this period of his life he acquired the name Michael (after Mikhail Lomonosov). In 1925 or 1926 he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain but was expelled within a year. From 1925 to 1931 he taught at the

Royal Grammar School, Newcastle (By Learning, You Will Lead) , established = , closed = , type = Grammar SchoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Geoffrey Stanford , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , cha ...

. Afterwards, he moved to London, teaching at

Mercers' School The Mercers' School was an independent school in the City of London, England, with a history going back at least to 1542, and perhaps much further. It was operated by the Worshipful Company of Mercers and was closed in 1959. History After the dis ...

from 1931 to 1934. He then returned to the RGS, where he worked until 1941, teaching English, mathematics, physics and chemistry. Having published his first poetry collection in 1930, he began to edit anthologies, of which ''New Country'' (1933) was celebrated for the group of poets (including

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

) that it featured. In 1934, he participated in a high-profile series of radio broadcasts, ''Whither Britain?'', together with major figures such as

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

and

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in the years 1922–194 ...

. The next year, he married

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, ...

, critic, anthologist, and fellow mountaineer; they lived in Fern Avenue,

Jesmond Jesmond is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, situated to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher average house prices than most other areas of the city. H ...

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 ...

. In 1939 they went to Penrith in Cumberland when the school was evacuated there. There they briefly shared a house with the poet

Kathleen Raine Kathleen Jessie Raine CBE (14 June 1908 – 6 July 2003) was a British poet, critic, and scholar, writing in particular on William Blake, W. B. Yeats and Thomas Taylor. Known for her interest in various forms of spirituality, most prominently ...

. Together, they had four children: Andrew Roberts, Professor of the History of Africa at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, born 1937; Henrietta Dombey, Professor of Literacy in Primary Education at the

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achiev ...

, born 1939; Adam Roberts, Professor of International Relations at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, born 1940; and

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including '' Nat ...

, writer on energy issues and Middle East politics, born 1947. The ''

Faber Book of Modern Verse The ''Faber Book of Modern Verse'' was a poetry anthology, edited in its first edition by Michael Roberts, and published in 1936 by Faber and Faber. There was a second edition (1951) edited by Anne Ridler, and a third edition (1965) edited by D ...

'' (1936), which he edited, is the single piece of work for which Roberts is now best remembered. He followed it with poetry and prose writing, and a study of

T. E. Hulme Thomas Ernest Hulme (; 16 September 1883 – 28 September 1917) was an English critic and poet who, through his writings on art, literature and politics, had a notable influence upon modernism. He was an aesthetic philosopher and the 'father ...

. In 1941-5 he worked in London for the BBC European Service, mainly on broadcasting to German-occupied countries. From 1945 to 1948 he was Principal of the

College of St Mark and St John Plymouth Marjon University, commonly referred to as Marjon, is the trading name of the University of St Mark and St John, a university based primarily on a single campus on the northern edge of Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom. Formerly named Univ ...

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

, where one of his colleagues was the biologist Cyril Bibby. He died of

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

in 1948. Michael and Janet Roberts had built up a large collection of books on mountaineering, which (along with the collection of th
Oxford University Mountaineering Club
provided a basis for establishment in December 1992 of the
Oxford Mountaineering Library
From 2019 this is based in the Geography collections in th
Social Science Library
which is in the Manor Road Building, Oxford OX1 3UQ. Many of his papers are in the National Library of Scotland, at Edinburgh. They include literary correspondence, and also records of his BBC service in 1941–5.

Poets in ''New Signatures'' (1932)

Julian Bell Julian Heward Bell (4 February 1908 – 18 July 1937) was an English poet, and the son of Clive and Vanessa Bell (who was the elder sister of Virginia Woolf). The writer Quentin Bell was his younger brother and the writer and painter Angelica ...

, C. Day-Lewis,

Richard Eberhart Richard Ghormley Eberhart (April 5, 1904 – June 9, 2005) was an American poet who published more than a dozen books of poetry and approximately twenty works in total. "Richard Eberhart emerged out of the 1930s as a modern stylist with romanti ...

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 ...

John Lehmann Rudolf John Frederick Lehmann (2 June 1907 – 7 April 1987) was an English poet and man of letters. He founded the periodicals ''New Writing'' and '' The London Magazine'', and the publishing house of John Lehmann Limited. Biography Born i ...

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 ...

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 th ...

, A. S. J. Tessimond

Poets in ''New Country'' (1933)

, Richard Goodman, C. Day-Lewis,

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 ...

, Michael Roberts,

, A. S. J. Tessimond,

Rex Warner Rex Warner (9 March 1905 – 24 June 1986) was an English classicist, writer, and translator. He is now probably best remembered for ''The Aerodrome'' (1941).Chris Hopkins, ''English Fiction in the 1930s: Language, Genre, History'' Continuum Inte ...

Books by Michael Roberts

* ''These Our Matins'' (poems), Elkin Mathews & Marrot, London, 1930. * (ed.) ''New Signatures: Poems by Several Hands'', Hogarth Press, London, 1932. * (ed.) ''New Country: Prose and Poetry by the authors of New Signatures'', Hogarth Press, London, 1933. * (ed.) ''Elizabethan Prose'', London, Jonathan Cape, 1933. * (with E.R. Thomas) ''Newton and the Origin of Colours: A Study of One of the Earliest Examples of Scientific Method'', G. Bell, London, 1934. * ''Critique of Poetry'', Jonathan Cape, London, 1934. * ''Poems'', Jonathan Cape, London, 1936. * (ed.) ''The

'', Faber & Faber, London, 1936. * ''The Modern Mind'', Faber & Faber, London, 1937. * ''T.E. Hulme'', Faber & Faber, London, 1938. * ''Orion Marches'' (poems), Faber & Faber, London, 1939. * ''The Recovery of the West'', Faber & Faber, London, 1941. * (ed.) ''The Faber Book of Comic Verse'', Faber & Faber, London, 1942. * ''The Estate of Man'', Faber & Faber, London, 1951. * ''Collected Poems'', Faber & Faber, London, 1958.

Examples of Work

La Meije 1937: A poem written in the late 1930's reflecting the Author's love of climbing, the euphoria and the reflection of the final parts of a descent from a good climb. It was dedicated to his friend, climbing partner, Alpine guide and founder of the Summer Ski School of Colle del Gigante (now called the Mont Blanc Ski School); Ottone Bron. La Meije 1937
''For Ottone Bron: Killed on the Col du Geant, 1938
'' Going down from the Aiguilles d'Arves, towards la Grave,
With sunlight on the cornsheaves, and the evening voices,
The fields already ripe with autumn crocus,
We said nothing, but saw the Meije rise up across the valley.
That was a climb for the next day, or the next;
That was our country, there, high up,
A world barely older than ourselves, and none too easy;
But now we going down to the valley,
Going down among the hotels and the autocars,
Going down among the young men in flannels, and the fat mammas,
Sightseers like ourselves, but easily contented,
Speaking more kindly of us then we of them.
This was our pleasure: to climb among the loose stones, to cut steps in ice,
To find a new alternative to the ''mauvais pas''
Theirs was simpler, and we despised it.
Perhaps we were right:
A man should use every nerve and muscle,
A man should puzzle out the hardest questions,
A man should find words for thoughts that no one knows.
At any rate, there was no room for us in at the big hotel.
But the fields were filled with sunlight,
We clattered noisily through the upper hamlets,
Girls turned for a moment from the milking,
And a boy with six goats shouted a greeting,
To us, the intruders. Already Said My Host.: One of Mr Roberts' final poems; where the issue of his progressing illness and unavoidable conclusion are addressed:
Already Said My Host.Michael Roberts, ''T.E. Hulme'', Carcanet Press, Manchester, 1982. . 'Already', said my host. 'You have arrived already?
But by what route, what ingenious ''raccourci''?
I half expected you, it is true,
But I expected someone a little older,
Someone rather less arrogant and impulsive,
Someone a little embittered and despondent,
Someone, in short, not quite ''you''.
And now you arrive by some unfair expedient,
Having neglected, no doubt, to pay proper attention to the view:
You arrive a little dazed and flushed,
And you find me hardly ready to receive you, hardly able to cope.
It was inconsiderate of you to die so suddenly,
Placing me in this ridiculous quandary.
I had predicted a great future for you,
A future without happiness or hope:
I had prepared a suitable mausoleum for your reception:
And now you arrive with a bundle of daffodils, a fox terrier,
And a still unfinished smile.
Really!'

References

Other sources

* Frederick Grubb (ed.), ''Michael Roberts: Selected Poems and Prose'', Carcanet Press, 198

* Michael H. Whitworth, ''Physics and the Literary Community, 1905-1939'', unpublished Oxford D.Phil. thesis, 1994. Contains checklist of Roberts's contributions to periodicals, includes items not listed in Grubb's bibliography. * Samuel Hines, entry on Michael Roberts in the ''

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 edition October 2009. * Jason Harding, ''The Criterion: Cultural Politics and Periodical Networks in Inter-war Britain'', Oxford University Press, 2002. (Chapter 8, pp. 159–174, 'Michael Roberts and Janet Adam Smith: New Signatures'.) . * Nicolas Barker, obituary: "Janet Adam Smith: A Woman of Substance in Literature and Mountaineering", ''The Guardian'', London, 14 September 199

*

Leonard Miall Rowland Leonard Miall (6 November 1914 – 24 February 2005) was a broadcaster and administrator at the BBC for 35 years, from 1939 to 1974. In retirement, he became a research historian, studying the history of broadcasting. Early life Miall ...

, "Obituary: Janet Adam Smith", ''The Independent'', London, 13 September 199

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Michael 1902 births 1948 deaths Alumni of King's College London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Writers from Bournemouth 20th-century English poets