Coventry Patmore

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Coventry Patmore (painting by John Singer Sargent , circa 1890)

Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (born July 23, 1823 in Woodford , Essex , England ; † November 26, 1896 in Lymington , Hampshire , England) was a British poet and literary critic , who was primarily characterized by the poetry consisting of four chants in praise of marriage The Angel in the House became known.

Life

Youth and first poems

The eldest son of the author Peter George Patmore received a private school education and developed his interest in literature through the cooperation and support of his father. At first he wanted to be a painter and because of his early talent he was awarded the “Silver Palette” of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1838 .

In 1839 he attended school in France for six months and began writing poems , some of which were published by his father on his return. A short time later he put his literary interests back in favor of scientific inclinations, but soon began again because of the sudden success of Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson with the new writing of poetry.

In 1844 he published his first volume of poetry with the title Poems , which was not without individuality, but suffered from technical defects and was therefore praised by critics on the one hand, but reviled on the other. Thereupon he acquired the remainder of the edition and had it destroyed. Most of all he was touched by a sharp criticism in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine , which attacked him in the worst possible style and without reason. However, through the encouragement of private friends and their positive views, he continued his writing career and in fact, the publication and criticism of poems led to the fact that he met numerous literary personalities such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti . This made him with William Holman Hunt , through whom he joined the group of the Pre-Raphaelites and published his poem The Seasons in their newspaper The Germ .

Library Assistant at the British Museum and The Angel in the House

Patmore's first wife, Emily Andrews (painting by John Everett Millais )

At this time his father got into financial difficulties, but Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton in 1846 gave him a job as assistant to the librarian of the British Museum . He held this position for 19 years until 1865, but continued to devote his free time to writing poetry.

In 1847 he married the writer Emily Andrews , daughter of a doctor from Camberwell . In addition, he was involved in the establishment of a support program for the British Museum in 1852, in particular through a letter in the daily newspaper The Times . He also published poems in the weekly Household Words published by Charles Dickens between 1850 and 1859 .

In 1853 he republished the more successful poems from the volume Poems in Tamerton Church Tower and added a few new poems to them, which showed significant progress in both conception and style.

He wrote the first part of his main work The Angel in the House in 1854, which was followed by three more chants: The Epousals (1856), Faithful for Ever (1860) and The Victories of Love (1862). However, at this time there were also “counter-drafts” to this perfect image of the wife, for example through reports on the work of Florence Nightingale and her older sister Frances Parthenope Verney .

After a long illness, his wife Emily Patmore died in 1862 and shortly afterwards he converted to the Roman Catholic Church . In 1865 he married for the second time and settled in East Grinstead in Mid Sussex with his second wife Marianne Byles .

The Unknown Eros and Late Works

In 1877 he wrote his second important work The Unknown Eros , which undoubtedly contains his best lyrical works and, like the following later works, had predominantly mystical or religious content. In 1878 he wrote Amelia , which he considered his favorite poem, and an essay on The English Metrical Law , in which he discussed the introduction of the metric system of units in England. This first critical examination was continued by him in 1879 with the book Principle in Art .

After the death of his second wife in 1880, he married Harriet Robson for the third time in 1881 and continued his literary work with the book How I managed my Estate , in which he presented the acquisition and management of his property in East Grinstead. In 1886, the publication of a two-volume collection of his poems followed, the works contained therein The Unknown Eros , Departure and The Toys belong to the better known poems of Patmore.

Patmore, who last published the books of poetry Religio poetae (1893) and The Rod, The Root and the Flower (1895), died in his retirement home in Lymington. In addition, poems by him and his son Henry John Patmore, who died in 1883 , were published posthumously .

A German-language translation of his lyric works was published in 1951 Poems in Selection - Coventry Patmore by Patmos-Verlag .

Background literature

  • JC Reid: The Mind and Art of Coventry Patmore , 1957

Web links and sources

personal data
SURNAME Patmore, Coventry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Patmore, Coventry Kersey Dighton (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British poet and literary critic
DATE OF BIRTH July 23, 1823
PLACE OF BIRTH Woodford , Essex , England
DATE OF DEATH November 26, 1896
Place of death Lymington , Hampshire , England