Lascelles Abercrombie Biography

British poet, dramatist, and critic, born in Ashton-under-Mersey, Cheshire, educated at Victoria University, Manchester. Having distinguished himself as a literary journalist, he lectured at the universities of Liverpool and Leeds before becoming Goldsmiths' Reader in English at New College, Oxford. With Wilfrid Gibson and Walter de la Mare, he was a recipient of the posthumous royalties produced by Rupert Brooke's works. Interludes and Poems (1908) was his first collection of verse; numerous succeeding volumes include Emblems of Love (1912) and the posthumous Lyrics and Unfinished Poems (1940). A collected edition of his poetry appeared in 1930. Although capable of a straightforwardly individual tone and of imaginatively powerful metaphorical effects, he remained stylistically constrained by the conventions of Victorian verse. A leading contributor to Edward Marsh's Georgian Poetry anthologies, his criticism tended to espouse the qualities associated with Georgian poetry. Much of his most original poetry is contained in his versedramas, for which he was held in high regard; his works in the genre include The End of the World (1915) and The Sale of St Thomas (1931). Among his critical works are Thomas Hardy (1912), The Idea of Great Poetry (1925), and Principles of Literary Criticism (1932).