Alfred Noyes
Alfred Noyes (born September 16, 1880 in Wolverhampton , England , † June 28, 1958 on the Isle of Wight ) was a British poet , best known for his ballads The Highwayman (1906) and The Barrel Organ .
Life
Alfred Noyes was born in Wolverhampton to Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes. He attended Exeter College , Oxford , but without a degree there.
At the age of 21, he published his first collection of poems , The Loom Years . From 1903 to 1908, five more volumes of poetry followed, including The Forest of Wild Thyme and The Flower of Old Japan and Other Poems .
In 1907 he married Garnett Daniels. From 1914 to 1923 he taught English literature at Princeton University . After the death of his wife , Noyes converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1926 . Noyes also dealt with this change of denomination in his book The Unknown God , published in 1934 . He later married Mary Angela Mayne Weld-Blundell, daughter of an old Anglican hostile family. They had three children together: Henry, Veronica and Magaret.
Due to increasing blindness with age , Noyes was forced to dictate his works. In 1953, his autobiography Two Worlds for Memory was published.
Noyes died at the age of 77 and was buried on the Isle of Wight. His life's work includes around 60 books , including volumes of poetry, novellas and short stories . Noyes' poems revere patriotism and war heroism, reflecting his appreciation for nature, his respect for scientific research, and his belief in God.
His ballad The Highwayman was first set to music by the American songwriter Phil Ochs and published on his album I Ain't Marching Anymore , which was released in 1965 . This ballad was later dubbed more commercially successful by Canadian Loreena McKennitt on her 1997 album The Book Of Secrets . The setting of Loreena McKennitt was also recorded by the Irish singer Andy Irvine on the CD Way out Yonder .
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Noyes, Alfred |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 16, 1880 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wolverhampton , England , UK |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 28, 1958 |
| Place of death | Isle of Wight , UK |