Alfred Noyes was an poet of English descent of some renown, publishing well-loved poems such as The Barrel Organ and The Highwayman.  The latter is a particular favourite, as illustrated in 1995 by a BBC nationwide poll to find Britain’s Favourite Poem and The Highwayman came in at Number 15.  Born in 1880 in the west midlands town of Wolverhampton, the family soon moved to the Welsh coast where Alfred’s father was a teacher of Greek as well as Latin.  The young, budding poet was inspired by the mountains and sea around Aberystwyth and his writing occupied much of his time, even when studying for a degree at Exeter College, based in Oxford.  He failed at the final hurdle here though, partly because he was discussing with his publisher about …

Here is a most unusual man – a poet who was heavily involved in the occult and mysticism.  He also found time to be a ceremonial magician and an occasional mountaineer but his major project was to be the founding member of a new religious philosophy which he called Thelema.  As this developed Crowley saw himself in the role of prophet and it was his responsibility to inform the whole of humanity of the dawn of the Aeon of Horus.

It was perhaps inevitable that religion would play such a key role, at least in his early life, having been born into a household where the parents, who were upper class and very well off, were part of a faction of the Plymouth Brethren known as the Exclusive Brethren.  Born in Warwickshire, England in 1875 he was christened Edward Alexander Crowley.  Aleister’s young life consisted …

This influential and much admired writer, christened Jean-Louis Kerouac, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1922.  His parents were French-Canadian from Quebec and Jack, as he became known, grew up speaking French and did not properly master the English language until he was sixteen years old.  By this time he had done reasonably well in High School and won a scholarship to Columbia University.  Unusually, for a writer, he was also good at sport and excelled at football but an injury put paid to that and he unfortunately became disillusioned with his studies, and dropped out.

His New York city friends included with the poet Allen Ginsberg and the novelist William S. Burroughs.  Along with others such as Herbert Huncke this group were the original members of a style that came to be known as the “Beat Generation.”  Kerouac himself coined the …

Author and poet Henry David Thoreau was born into an unremarkable New England family in Massachusetts in 1817. He is undoubtedly one of the most famous Americans of the 19th century, an ardent philosopher, abolitionist, and historian. His interests were many and varied and his best known literary works, Walden and Civil Disobedience, have had a strong influence on many political and social leaders since they were written over 150 years ago.

In his earl life, Thoreau thought of himself as a poet but was largely discouraged by those around him and finally came to see it as far too constrictive for the ideas he wanted to explore. Though he wrote a good deal of poetry, it is his essays and longer works that have survived and prospered over the years, revised and adapted to suit each generations hopes and desires.

In …

English lyric poet and politician, Andrew Marvell was born in 1621 in East Riding, Yorkshire. His father was a vicar and the family moved to Hull when he became a lecturer at Holy Trinity Church there. Initially tutored at a Hull grammar school, Andrew Marvell, at the age of 13, went to Cambridge to study.

At the height of the English Civil War, Marvell was on the European continent and remained there until 1647, managing to learn four languages during his time away. He had begun writing poems whilst still at Cambridge and was not averse to including political commentary and satire in his verses. He wrote with sadness about the death of Charles I but also spoke in praise of Cromwell.

On his return from Europe, Marvell acted as tutor to the daughter of Sir Thomas Fairfax, who had been in charge …