Robert Graves

Robert von Ranke Graves (July 24, 1895–December 7, 1985) was an English scholar, best remembered for his work as a poet and novelist. During his long life, he produced more than 140 works in total. Graves, born in Wimbledon (England), received his early education at Charterhouse School and won a scholarship to Oxford University (St John's College). However, the prospect of spending another four years of his life studying Latin and Greek did not appeal to the nineteen-year-old Graves, and with the outbreak of World War I he enlisted almost immediately in the Royal Welch Fusiliers (RWF). The horror of his wartime experiences had a profound effect upon him; he published his first volume of poems, Over The Brazier, in 1916, but he later tried to suppress his war poetry. At the Battle of the Somme in 1916 he received such serious injuries that his family were informed of his death. However, he recovered, at the cost of permanent damage to his lungs, and spent the remainder of the war in England, despite his efforts to return to the front. In 1917, Graves played an important part in saving his fellow poet, Siegfried Sassoon, from a court martial after the latter went absent without leave and wrote to his commanding officer denouncing the war. The two officers had become firm friends while serving with the RWF. Graves's biographies document the story well, and Pat Barker's novel, Regeneration also recounts it. The intensity of their early relationship is nowhere demonstrated more clearly than in Graves's Fairies And Fusiliers (1916), which collection contains a plethora of poems celebrating their friendship. Sassoon himself remarked upon a 'heavy sexual element' within it, which observation is heavily supported by the sentimental nature of much of the surviving correspondence between the two men. Through Sassoon, Graves also encountered Wilfred Owen, whose talent he recognised. Owen attended Graves's wedding to Nancy Nicholson in 1918, presenting him with, as Graves recalled, 'a set of twelve Apostle spoons'. Following his marriage and the end of the War, Graves eventually entered the University of Oxford, and attempted to make a living by running a small shop; the business soon failed. In 1926 he took up a post at the University of Cairo, accompanied by his wife, their children, and the poet Laura Riding. He founded the Seizin Press with Riding and they co-authored two successful academic books, A Survey of Modernist Poetry (1927) and A Pamphlet Against Anthologies (1928). In 1929 he moved with Riding to Deya, Majorca (Spain), but they were forced to leave in 1936 due to the Spanish Civil War. It was at this point that he wrote his autobiography, Goodbye to All That (1929, revised by him and republished in 1957); it proved a success but cost him many of his friends, notably Siegfried Sassoon. In 1934 Graves published his most successful work, I, Claudius. Using classical sources he constructed a complex and compelling tale of the life of the Roman emperor Claudius, a tale extended in the sequel Claudius the God (1943). Another historical novel by Graves, Count Belisarius (1938), recounts the career of the Byzantine general Belisarius. In 1939 Graves returned to England and began a new relationship with Beryl Hodge. In 1946 he re-established a home in Deya, Majorca, and he married Beryl in 1950. He published the controversial The White Goddess in 1948 and went on to a series of affairs and lesser amours with his 'muses'. In 1955 he published his copiously annotated version of The Greek Myths]]. In 1961 he became Professor of Poetry at Oxford, a post he held until 1966. Graves died in December 1985 following a long illness and gradual mental degeneration.

External link

\n*The Robert Graves Trust\nGraves, Robert\nGraves, Robert\nGraves, Robert \n