Arthur Symons(1865-1945)
- Writer
British poet, writer and critic Arthur William Symons was born on 2/28/1865, in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshore, England. His education was "off and on", as he described it, but he managed to work his way into the London literary journalism scene in the 1890s. He was a member of The Rhymers Club, a collection of poets that included William Butler Yeats, and was a contributor to "The Yellow Book". He was made the editor of a new magazine, "The Savoy", in 1896.
Symons was acquainted with many of the top French writers and poets of the era, including Paul Verlaine, Stéphane Mallarmé and Joris-Karl Huysmans. He was a champion of the so-called "Symbolist Movement", and in 1899 published a book, "The Symbolist Movement in Literature", which was a major influence on such writers as Yeats and T.S. Eliot. His own poetry, in such works as "Days and Nights" (1889) and "London NIghts" (1895), was geared more toward the urban life he gravitated towards rather than the pastoral romantic settings of many of his contemporaries.
Symons suffered a nervous breakdown in 1908, and it took him almost two years to recover from it. From 1910-30 he produced mostly books and writings on travel, literary criticism and translations of other authors' works. He died in Wittersham, Kent, England, on 1/22/1945.
Symons was acquainted with many of the top French writers and poets of the era, including Paul Verlaine, Stéphane Mallarmé and Joris-Karl Huysmans. He was a champion of the so-called "Symbolist Movement", and in 1899 published a book, "The Symbolist Movement in Literature", which was a major influence on such writers as Yeats and T.S. Eliot. His own poetry, in such works as "Days and Nights" (1889) and "London NIghts" (1895), was geared more toward the urban life he gravitated towards rather than the pastoral romantic settings of many of his contemporaries.
Symons suffered a nervous breakdown in 1908, and it took him almost two years to recover from it. From 1910-30 he produced mostly books and writings on travel, literary criticism and translations of other authors' works. He died in Wittersham, Kent, England, on 1/22/1945.
