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Wordsworth William
When William Wordsworth (1770-1850) published ‘Lyrical Ballads’ with Samuel Coleridge in 1798, they launched the Romantic Age of English Literature. Although now generally considered the greatest poet of his age, at the time he would have been considered secondary to Keats, Scott and later Tennyson. His semi-autobiographical poem, ‘The Prelude’, raised little interest when it was published by his widow after his death, but it has come to be viewed as his masterpiece.
Whitman Walt
Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. The collection of his poetry,’ Leaves of Grass’ was highly controversial in its day, as some found its overt sexuality offensive. The quality of his later works places him among the most influential American poets, and he has been called’ the father of free verse’.
Tennyson Alfred Lord
More than any other contemporary writer, Alfred Tennyson (1809 -1892) embodied the Victorian age, and during his lifetime, he, Queen Victoria and William Gladstone were said to be the three most famous people alive. Much loved by Victoria and Albert, he became poet laureate in 1850, and remained so until his death, the longest serving before and since. He was also unique in being the first peer to be created for his writing. By general consensus, then and now, he was the finest of the Victorian poets.
Shelley Percy Bysshe
While the reputations of authors and poets can wax and wane both during their lives and the years that follow, few have polarised opinion as much as Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822). His name is inextricably associated with the other Romantic poets, Byron and Keats, but his atheism (and his appalling treatment of his wife) invoked genuine hatred while he lived, and the quality of the poetry of the Romantics in general, and his in particular, has, at times, been much derided. However, the list of his admirers is far longer then the list of his critics.
Rossetti Christina
Christina Rossetti (1830 – 1894) is best remembered for her collection of verse ‘Goblin Market and Other Poems’, but her stories, essays, and religious poetry have also found readers throughout the twentieth century. Most of Rossetti’s work was influenced by her devout religious convictions and the pressures placed upon women during Victorian times.
Keats John
John Keats (1795 – 1821) was only twenty-five when he died of tuberculosis in Italy. During his life he published just fifty-four poems, in three slim volumes, yet his rich, powerful, and exactly controlled poetic style ranks him as one of the greatest lyric poets in English.
Dickinson Emily
Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1874) was an American poet who was almost unknown during her lifetime. Extremely reclusive by nature, just a handful of her poems were published by friends during her lifetime, and they were altered significantly to fit what they perceived to be the poetic conventions of the time. Remarkably, it was not until 1955 that a complete, unaltered collection of her poems was published, and she is now considered to be a major American poet.
Chaucer Geoffrey
Widely regarded as the father of English poetry, Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) is the outstanding writer in English before Shakespeare, and ‘The Canterbury Tales’ is still widely read, studied and enjoyed.
Byron Lord
“Mad, bad, and dangerous to know”, George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788 – 1824), was the most flamboyant and notorious of the major Romantic poets. Lacking the inhibitions of his contemporaries, Byron’s poetry is exuberant and spontaneous, causing him to be regarded still as one of the greatest of British poets.