William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford on about

April 23rd 1564. His father William was a successful
local businessman and his mother Mary was the
daughter of a landowner. Relatively prosperous, it is
likely the family paid for Williams education,
although there is no evidence he attended
university.
In 1582 William, aged only 18, married an older
woman named Anne Hathaway. Soon after they had
their first daughter, Susanna. They had another two
children but William’s only son Hamlet died aged
only 11.
After his marriage, information about the life of Shakespeare is sketchy but it
seems he spent most of his time in London writing and performing in his plays.
It seemed he didn’t mind being absent from his family - only returning home
during Lent when all theatres were closed. It is generally thought that during
the 1590s he wrote the majority of his sonnets. This was a time of prolific
writing and his plays developed a good deal of interest and controversy.
William Shakespeare wrote 154 Sonnets mostly in the 1590s. Fairly short
poems, they deal with issues such as lost love. His sonnets have an enduring
appeal due to his characteristic skill with language and words.
The plays of Shakespeare have been studied more than any other writing in
the English language and have been translated into numerous languages. He
was rare as a play-write for excelling in tragedies, comedies and histories. He
deftly combined popular entertainment with a rare poetic capacity for
expression which is almost mantric in quality. During his lifetime, Shakespeare
was not without controversy, but he also received lavish praise for his plays
which were very popular and commercially successful.
Shakespeare died in 1664; it is not clear how he died although his vicar
suggested it was from heavy drinking.
 William Blake
William Blake (November 28, 1757–August 12,
1827) was an English poet, painter, and
printmaker. William Blake was one of England’s
greatest poets. He combined both a lofty
mysticism, imagination and vision with an
uncompromising awareness of the harsh
realities of life. As a young boy, he had a most
revealing vision of seeing angels in the trees.
These mystical visions returned throughout his
life, leaving a profound mark on his poetry and outlook. William Blake was also
particularly sensitive to cruelty. His heart wept at the site of man’s inhumanity
to other men and children. In many ways he was also of radical temperament,
rebelling against the prevailing orthodoxy of the day. His anger and frustration
at the world can be seen in his collection of poems.
William Blake was born in London, where he spent most of his life. His father
was a successful London hosier and attracted by the Religious teachings of
Emmanuel Swedenborg. Blake was first educated at home, chiefly by his
mother. Blake remained very close to his mother and wrote much poetry
about her.
His parents were also broadly sympathetic with his artistic temperament and
they encouraged him to collect Italian prints. He found work as an engraver,
joining the trade at an early age. He found the early apprenticeship rather
boring, but the skills he learnt proved useful throughout his artistic life.
During his lifetime Blake never made much money. It was only after his death
william blakethat his genius was fully appreciated. His engravings and
commissioned work drew enough money to survive, but at times he had to rely
on the support of some of his close friends. Because of Blake’s temperaments
he was not always suited to maintaining friendships.
Blake died on August 12 1827, he was buried in an unmarked grave in a public
cemetery and Bunhill Fields. After his death his influence steadily grew through
the Pre-Raphaelites and later noted poets such as T. S. Eliot and W. B. Yeats.
 William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major Romantic poet,
based in the Lake District, England. His poems are
frequently inspired by the beauty of nature and he is
known as one of the greatest English poets.
He was born in 7 April, 1770 in Cockermouth, in
northwest England. His father, John Wordsworth,
introduced the young William to the great poetry of
Milton and Shakespeare, but he was frequently
absent during William's childhood. Instead,
Wordsworth was brought up by his mother's parents in Penrith, but this was
not a happy period. He felt frequently in conflict with his relations and at times
contemplated ending his life. However, as a child, he did develop a great love
of nature, spending many hours walking in the fells of the Lake District. He also
became very close to his sister, Dorothy, who would later become a poet in her
own right.
In 1778, William was sent to Hawkshead Grammar School in Lancashire; this
separated him from his beloved sister for nearly nine years. In 1787, he
entered St. John's College, Cambridge. It was in this year that he had his first
published work, a sonnet in the European Magazine. Whilst still a student at
Cambridge, in 1790, he travelled to revolutionary France.
By the 1820s, the critical acclaim for Wordsworth was growing, though
ironically critics note that, from this period, his poetry began losing some of its
vigour and emotional intensity. His poetry was perhaps a reflection of his own
ideas. The 1790s had been a period of emotional turmoil and faith in the
revolutionary ideal. Towards the end of his life, his disillusionment with the
French revolution had made him more conservative in outlook. In 1839 he
received an honorary degree from Oxford University and received a civil
pension of £300 a year from the government.
Wordsworth died of pleurisy on 23 April 1850. He was buried in St Oswald's
church Grasmere. After his death, his widow Mary, published his
autobiographical 'Poem to Coleridge' under the title "The Prelude".
 Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson, regarded as one of America’s greatest
poets, is also well known for her unusual life of self
imposed social seclusion. Living a life of simplicity and
seclusion, she yet wrote poetry of great power;
questioning the nature of immortality and death, with at
times an almost mantric quality. Her different lifestyle
created an aura; often romanticised, and frequently a
source of interest and speculation. But ultimately Emily
Dickinson is remembered for her unique poetry. Within
short, compact phrases she expressed far-reaching ideas;
amidst paradox and uncertainty her poetry has an
undeniable capacity to move and provoke.
Emily Dickinson was born on 10th December, 1830, in the town of Amherst,
Massachusetts. Amherst, 50 miles from Boston, had become well known as a
centre for Education, based around Amherst College.

As a young child, Emily proved to be a bright and conscientious student. She emily
Dickinson showed a sharp intelligence, and was able to create many original
writings of rhyming stories, delighting her fellow classmates. At Mount Holyoke
Female Seminary in South Hadley, she was able to study a range of subjects from
Latin to English Literature. However, her studies were often interrupted by ill
health. Emily Dickinson’s later seclusion from society gives an impression of a life
of austerity and simplicity. This has been romanticized, with the frequently cited
Dickinson preference for her wearing all white dresses. However, Emily was both
a keen artist and accomplished musician. In her college years she enjoyed singing;
making reference to the similarities between poetry and singing. She also had a
sharp eye for beautiful art.
Emily Dickinson died at the age of 55 from Bright’s disease, which is caused by
kidney degeneration. Her doctor suggested that the accumulation of stress
throughout her life contributed to her premature death.Despite Emily’s seclusion
and frail health, her poetry reveals that she did experience moments of great joy.
Through nature and life she was able to glimpse into a mystic dimension beyond
worldly distractions; although it is also clear this did not become a permanent
feeling. For every ecstatic joy there seems to be a contrasting doubt and
uncertainty. But she was able to offer a concise and direct revelation of thought
provoking ideas through a powerful command of language.
 Rabindranath Tagore

Poet, writer and humanitarian, Rabindranath Tagore

was the first Indian to be awarded the Nobel Prize
for Literature and played a key role in the
renaissance of modern India. Tagore is most widely
known for his poetry, but he was also an
accomplished author of novels, short stories, plays
and articles. He took an active interest in a
widespread range of social, cultural and artistic
endeavours. He has been described as one of the
first Twentieth Century's global man.

Rabindranath was born in 7 May 1861 Calcutta. His

father Debendranath Tagore was a leading light in
the Brahmo Samaj - a reforming Hindu organisation which sought to promote a
monotheistic interpretation of the Upanishads and move away from the
rigidity of Hindu Orthodoxy which they felt was holding back India.
Debendranath Tagore also encouraged his family to learn English.

Rabindranath began writing from an early age, and impressed with his free
flowing style and spontaneous compositions. He mostly rejected formal
schooling; he spent much time being taught at home. In 1878 he travelled to
England and sought to study law at University College, London, but he left
before finishing the degree.

In 1913, Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature for his work
'Gitanjali' This made his writings internationally known and his fame spread
throughout the world. This gave Tagore the opportunity to travel extensively
giving lectures and recitals in many different countries. He also became
aquatinted with many of the leading cultural contemporaries of the day; this
included W.B.Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Romain Rolland, Robert Frost and
Albert Einstein.

Tagore had a great love for nature and many of his poems invoke the simple
beauties of the natural world. For Tagore, his religion could be found in the
wonders and mysteries of nature - as much as in temples and sacred books.

Tagore was a polymath, towards the end of his life he took up art and also
pursued an interest in science. Tagore was also very much an internationalist,
criticising nationalism, though also writing songs and articles in support of the
general principle of the Indian independence movement. Tagore died on 7th
August 1941, after a long and painful illness, aged 80.