Randall Carline Swingler MM (28 May 1909 – 19 June 1967) was an English poet, writing extensively in the 1930s in the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

interest.

Early life and education

His was a prosperous upper middle class Anglican family in

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alde ...

, with an industrial background in the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Mercia, Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in ...

and earlier aristocratic roots in Scotland. His uncle and godfather was Randall Davidson, the Archbishop of Canterbury (1903 – 1928) and he was the cousin of the writer

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

, and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

. He served with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. His egalitarian beliefs led him to refuse a commission and he joined as a private soldier, repeatedly refusing offers of a battlefield commission. He saw action in the Italian campaign and was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

. He left the CPGB in 1956. He was a founder of

E. P. Thompson Edward Palmer Thompson (3 February 1924 – 28 August 1993) was an English historian, writer, socialist and peace campaigner. He is best known today for his historical work on the radical movements in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in ...

's '' The New Reasoner'' (from 1957).Croft, Andy. ''Comrade Heart: A Life of Randall Swingler'' (2003), revised 2020 a
''The Years of Anger''
/ref>

Music and literature

Swingler was an accomplished

flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, playing regularly with the professional London orchestras. He was later much involved in musical collaboration as a librettist, including song cycles with

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

(''

Advance Democracy ''Advance Democracy'' is a 1938 piece for unaccompanied choir by British composer Benjamin Britten. History In 1938, in reaction to the Munich Agreement and threat posed by the Axis against the liberal order in Europe, the London Co-operative So ...

'', 1938),

Alan Bush Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed prol ...

(''The Winter Journey'', 1946) and Alan Rawsthorne (''A Canticle of Man'', 1953). His friend

John Sykes John James Sykes (born 29 July 1959) is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang. He has also fronted the hard rock group Blue Murder and released several solo albums. Following a stint in ...

also set the four poems of ''Homage to John Dowland'' in 1957. Among several notable pieces, Swingler co-wrote ''Ballad of Heroes'' with Britten and the poet W. H. Auden and wrote a new version of the English lyrics of the Polish revolutionary song " Whirlwinds of Danger". There are settings of his verse by Arnold Cooke,

Christian Darnton Philip Christian Darnton (30 October 1905 – 14 April 1981), also known as Baron von Schunck, was a British composer and writer. Early life and family He was born in Leeds as Philip Christian von Schunck, the son of Mary Gertrude Illingworth (18 ...

, Erik Chisholm, Norman Demuth, John Ireland, Elisabeth Lutyens, and Bernard Stevens. His war poetry (1935-1945), including examples such as 'Heavy Shelling at Night', 'Briefing for Invasion' and 'The Day the War Ended...' was collected in ''The Years of Anger'', first published in 1946. Since his death, Swingler has been recognised as a central figure in communist English poetry. His biographer, the poet

Andy Croft Andy Croft (born 1956) is an English writer, editor, and poet based in North East England."About the Contributors", in Edward J. Carvalho (ed.), ''Acknowledged Legislator: Critical Essays on the Poetry of Martín Espada''. Rowman & Littlefield ...

, has written that, as an editor, speaker, organiser, journalist, critic, playwright, poet, librettist, novelist and publisher, he was one of the leading figures in the cultural activities of the Communist Party. Croft has also calls him "the last of the Georgian poets" and says that his poetry "had a moral and political urgency". Swingler operated in North London, as a close associate of Nancy Cunard, sometimes lending his name. He was one of the organisers of the covert Writer's Group of the late 1930s, attempting to co-ordinate a 'literary policy' of the Left. He was also involved in work for the Unity Theatre, and was the literary editor of the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were ...

'', often reviewing books for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'', ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...

'', amongst other newspapers.Jacobs, Nicholas. 'Young, gifted, broke, but now recalled', ''Islington Times'', 22 October, 2020
/ref>

Politics

Swingler joined the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

in 1934. His numerous ventures as a literary entrepreneur included the setting up of Fore Publications (1938), editing the magazines ''Left Review'' (from 1937 to 1938), ''Arena'', ''Seven'' (taken over in wartime, mainly for the paper stock), ''Our Time'', and the publishing of the ''Key Books'', and later ''Key Poets'' series. These proved more influential than his Blake-flavoured verse, which has consistently been criticised (and scarcely defended, except by Andy Croft). With his brother, the Labour MP

Stephen Swingler Stephen Thomas Swingler, PC (2 March 1915 – 19 February 1969) was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950, and from 1951 to his death. Early life Swingler was the son of Rev. H. Swingler, and ...

, he was involved in

Barnett Stross Sir Barnett Stross (25 December 1899 – 13 May 1967) was a British doctor and politician. He served twenty years as a Labour Party Member of Parliament, famously led the humanitarian campaign "Lidice Shall Live" and pushed for reforms in ind ...

's Lidice Shall Live campaign, and wrote the words to the piece "A Rose For Lidice" (music by Alan Rawsthorne), which was performed at the opening of the memorial rose garden in Lidice in 1955.

Personal life

He was married to the concert pianist and tutor at the

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

, Geraldine Peppin. They had an open marriage and Swingler had an affair with actor and activist Ann Davies. Swingler died unexpectedly on 19 Jun 1967 at Charing Cross Hospital. Westminster. His daughter Judith married the composer Edward Williams.

Works

*''Crucifixus'' (1932) play *''Difficult Morning'' (1933) poems *''The Left Song Book'', (1938) compiled with

*''The Years of Anger'' – poems *''The God in the Cave'' (1950) poems *''Selected Poems of Randall Swingler'' (2000) edited by Andy Croft

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swingler, Randall 1909 births 1967 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford English communists English people of Scottish descent British Army soldiers British Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Military Medal 20th-century British poets Military personnel from Aldershot