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Poets' Corner

Coordinates: 51°29′57″N 0°7′38.50″W / 51.49917°N 0.1273611°W / 51.49917; -0.1273611
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Poets' Corner
Memorials in Poets' Corner
Map
Details
Established1400
Location
Westminster Abbey
CountryLondon, England
Coordinates51°29′57″N 0°7′38.50″W / 51.49917°N 0.1273611°W / 51.49917; -0.1273611

Poets' Corner is a section of the southern transept of Westminster Abbey in London, where many poets, playwrights, and writers are buried or commemorated.

The first poet interred in Poets' Corner was Geoffrey Chaucer in 1400.[1] William Shakespeare was commemorated with a monument in 1740, over a century after his death. Over the centuries, a tradition has grown up of interring or memorialising people there in recognition of their contribution to British culture. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the honour is awarded to writers.

In 2009, the founders of the Royal Ballet were commemorated in a memorial floor stone and on 25 September 2010, the writer Elizabeth Gaskell was celebrated with the dedication of a panel in the memorial window.[2] On 6 December 2011, former Poet Laureate Ted Hughes was commemorated with a floor stone.[3] On 22 November 2013, the fiftieth anniversary of his death, writer C. S. Lewis was commemorated with a memorial floor stone.[4] The poet Philip Larkin was commemorated with a floor stone dedicated on 2 December 2016.[5][6][7]

History

[edit]
Partial view of Poets' Corner
The west wall of Poets' Corner

The first poet interred in Poets' Corner, Geoffrey Chaucer, owed his 1400 burial in the Abbey (in front of St. Benedict's Chapel) more to his position as Clerk of Works of the Palace of Westminster than to his fame as a writer. The erection of his tomb by Nicholas Brigham in 1556 (to where Chaucer's remains were then transferred) and the nearby burial of Edmund Spenser in 1599 began a tradition that still continues. The area also houses the tombs of several Canons and Deans of the Abbey, as well as the grave of Thomas Parr who, it is said, died at the age of 152 in 1635 after having seen ten sovereigns on the throne.

Burial or commemoration in the Abbey does not always occur at or soon after the time of death. Lord Byron, for example, whose poetry was admired but who maintained a scandalous lifestyle, died in 1824 but was not given a memorial until 1969. Even William Shakespeare, buried at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616, was not honoured with a monument until 1740 when one designed by William Kent was constructed in Poets' Corner (though shortly after Shakespeare's death William Basse had suggested Shakespeare should be buried there). Samuel Horsley, Dean of Westminster in 1796, was said to have tartly refused the request for actress Kitty Clive to be buried in the Abbey:

if we do not draw some line in this theatrical ambition to mortuary fame, we shall soon make Westminster Abbey little better than a Gothic Green Room![8]

Not all poets appreciated memorialisation and Samuel Wesley's epitaph for Samuel Butler, who supposedly died in poverty, continued Butler's satiric tone:

While Butler, needy wretch, was yet alive,
No generous patron would a dinner give;
See him, when starv'd to death, and turn'd to dust,
Presented with a monumental bust.
The poet's fate is here in emblem shown,
He ask'd for bread, and he received a stone.

Grave of Charles Dickens

Some of those buried in Poets' Corner also had memorials erected to them over or near their grave, either around the time of their death or later. In some cases, such as Joseph Addison, the burial took place elsewhere in Westminster Abbey, with a memorial later erected in Poets' Corner. In some cases a full burial of a body took place, in other, later, cases the body was cremated and the ashes buried. There are also cases where there was support for a particular individual to be buried in Poets' Corner, but the decision was made to bury them elsewhere in the Abbey, such as Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Other notable poets and writers, such as Aphra Behn, are buried elsewhere in the Abbey. At least two of the memorials (both to individuals buried in Poets' Corner – Rowe and Gay) were later moved to a location elsewhere in the Abbey due to the discovery of old paintings on the wall behind them. In 1936 the ashes of the author and poet Rudyard Kipling were interred.

Memorial types

[edit]

The memorials can take several forms. Some are stone slabs set in the floor with a name and inscription carved on them, while others are more elaborate and carved stone monuments, or hanging stone tablets, or memorial busts. Some are commemorated in groups, such as the joint memorial for the Brontë sisters (commissioned in 1939, but not unveiled until 1947 due to the Second World War), the sixteen First World War poets inscribed on a stone floor slab and unveiled in 1985, and the four founders of the Royal Ballet, commemorated together in 2009.[9]

Brontë sisters wall tablet

The grave of Ben Jonson is not in Poets' Corner, but is in the north aisle of the nave. It has the inscription "O Rare Ben Johnson" (perhaps the original spelling) on the slab above it. It has been suggested that this could be read "Orare Ben Johnson" (pray for Ben Johnson), which would indicate a deathbed return to Catholicism, but the carving shows a distinct space between "O" and "rare".[10] The fact that he was buried in an upright grave could be an indication of his reduced circumstances at the time of his death[11] but it has also been suggested that Jonson asked for a grave exactly 18 inches square from the monarch and received an upright grave to fit in the requested space.[12] As well as the gravestone in the north aisle of the nave, a wall tablet commemorating Jonson was later erected in Poets' Corner.

As floor and wall space began to run out, the decision was taken to install a stained glass memorial window (unveiled in 1994 in memory of Edward Horton Hubbard), and it is here that new names are added in the form of inscribed panes of glass. There is room for 20 names, and currently there are six names on this window, with the latest entry (Elizabeth Gaskell) unveiled on 25 September 2010.[13][14] The memorial ceremonies often include guest speakers. In 1995, Oscar Wilde was commemorated in the window and those in attendance included Sir John Gielgud and Dame Judi Dench who both read extracts from his work.[15]

Burials

[edit]
Image Name Born Died Age at death Details of funeral / memorial Occupation
Robert Adam 1729 1792 63 Grave & gravestone Architect
Isaac Barrow 1630 1677 46 Grave & marble memorial bust on a pedestal by John Bushnell[16] Mathematician
Francis Beaumont 1584 1616 31–32 Grave is unmarked. Name is inscribed on the Abraham Cowley gravestone.[17] Playwright
... John Beaumont 1583 1627 43–44 Unmarked grave[17] Poet
... William Benson unknown 1549 unknown Grave & memorial stone[18] Abbot of Westminster
Mary Eleanor Bowes and her husband John Lyon. Mary Eleanor Bowes 1749 1800 51 Grave & gravestone. Reported by some to have been buried in a court dress, with all the accessories necessary for a Royal audience, plus a small silver trumpet, and by others as in her bridal dress.[19] Poet and playwright
Robert Browning 1812 1889 77 Browning's grave & gravestone is immediately adjacent to that of Alfred, Lord Tennyson[20] Poet and playwright
Richard Busby 1606 1695 88–89 Busby is buried beneath the pavement of the Choir while his memorial, by the sculptor Francis Bird, is located in the South Transept.[21] Headmaster
William Camden 1551 1623 72 Marble memorial bust with surround[22] Antiquarian and historian
Thomas Campbell 1777 1844 66 Funeral 3 July 1844.;[23] Statue by William Calder Marshall erected 1848[24] Poet
Henry Francis Cary 1772 1844 72 Funeral 14 August 1844.[25] Grave & gravestone in Poets' Corner[26] Author and translator
Isaac Casaubon 1559 1614 55 Wall monument in black & white marble by sculptor Nicholas Stone[27] Classical scholar
William Chambers 1723 1796 75 Grave & gravestone in South Transept[28] Architect
Geoffrey Chaucer c. 1343 1400 56–57 Actual grave site is now unmarked but his name is inscribed on the Cowley gravestone. A grey Purbeck marble memorial was erected in 1556.[29] Author and poet
Abraham Cowley 1618 1667 48–49 White marble monument, of an urn on a pedestal, by John Bushnell[30] Large black marble gravestone to which several further names have been added. Poet
Richard Cumberland 1732 1811 79 Grave & gravestone in South Transept[31] Playwright
William Davenant 1606 1668 62 Grave & gravestone in South Transept[32] Poet and playwright
John Denham 1614 or 1615 1669 63–65 Grave is unmarked. Name is inscribed on the Abraham Cowley gravestone.[33] Poet
Charles Dickens 1812 1870 58 Dickens's will did not dictate his place of burial, but stipulated that there be no grand funeral ceremony. He was therefore given a secret early-morning funeral in the Abbey, 14 June 1870.[34] Author
Michael Drayton 1563 1631 67–68 Died in London. Memorial bust & surround in alabaster & black marble placed by the Countess of Dorset, with lines attributed to Ben Jonson.[35] Poet
John Dryden 1631 1700 68 Grave is unmarked. Name is inscribed on the Cowley gravestone. Memorial bust on pedestal by Peter Scheemakers was erected in 1731, replacing an earlier memorial.[36] Poet and playwright
... Adam Fox 1888 1977 93–94 Grave & gravestone in South Transept[37] Oxford Professor of Poetry
Canon of Westminster Abbey
David Garrick 1717 1779 61 Grave plus monument in white and grey marble by Henry Webber on the west wall of Poets' Corner[38] Actor
John Gay 1685 1732 47 Buried in South Transept, with a monument by John Michael Rysbrack which is now in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries[39] Poet and playwright
William Gifford 1756 1826 70 Gifford wanted to be buried in South Audley Chapel, "but for the pressing request of his grateful executor [John Ireland, Dean of Westminster], who was anxious that Gifford's remains should be mingled with the great and good in Poets' Corner, Westminster-abbey."[40] Poet and editor
George Grote 1794 1871 76 Marble bust by Charles Bacon, 1873[41] Historian
Richard Hakluyt c.1552 1616 63–64 Unmarked grave thought to be in the South Transept[42] Author
George Frideric Handel 1685 1759 74 Life-size sculpture by Louis-François Roubiliac with musical scores and instruments represented.[43][44] Composer
Thomas Hardy 1840 1928 87 Hardy's funeral, on 16 January 1928, was controversial. Hardy had wanted to be buried at Stinsford in the grave of his first wife, Emma. His executor, Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell, was adamant that Hardy warranted interment in the Poets' Corner. A compromise saw his heart buried at Stinsford, and his ashes at the Abbey. Author and poet
John Henderson 1747 1785 38 Buried at the foot of the grave of David Garrick in the south transept. The inscription has now worn away but it read: "Underneath this stone are interr'd the remains of John Henderson who died the 25th day of Novembr. 1785 aged 38 years".[45] Actor
Henry Irving 1838 1905 67 Grave & gravestone[46] Actor
Samuel Johnson 1709 1784 75 Bust by Joseph Nollekens located above Johnson's grave[47] Author, poet and lexicographer
Rudyard Kipling 1865 1936 70 Grave & gravestone[48] Author and poet
... Nicholas Litlyngton before 1315 1386 70+ Grave & memorial stone[49] Abbot of Westminster
Thomas Macaulay 1800 1859 59 Public funeral, 9 January 1860, with a bust by the sculptor George Burnard erected in 1866.[50][51] Poet and historian
James Macpherson 1736 1796 59 Grave & gravestone[52] Author and poet
John Masefield 1878 1967 88 According to his wishes, was cremated and his ashes placed in Poets' Corner. Poet and author
... Robert Moray 1608/9 1673 63–65 Grave is unmarked. Name is inscribed on the Cowley gravestone. Statesman and natural philosopher
Gilbert Murray 1866 1957 91 Grave & gravestone[53] Scholar and translator
Laurence, Lord Olivier 1907 1989 82 Grave & memorial stone[54] Actor
Old Tom Parr 1483 1635 152 Grave & gravestone[55] Supposedly long-lived Englishman
Matthew Prior 1664 1721 57 Grave is unmarked. Name is inscribed on the Cowley gravestone. Memorial, designed by James Gibbs, with a bust by Antoine Coysevox and figures by John Michael Rysbrack erected by 1726.[56] Poet and diplomat
Nicholas Rowe 1674 1718 44 Buried in South Transept, with a monument by John Michael Rysbrack which is now in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries[57] Playwright and poet
Charles de Saint-Évremond 1610 1703 93 Grave is unmarked. Name is inscribed on the Cowley gravestone. Memorial was also erected. Essayist and literary critic
Richard Brinsley Sheridan 1751 1816 64 Grave & gravestone[58] Playwright and poet
Robert South 1634 1716 81 Monument by Francis Bird[59] Theologian and poet
Edmund Spenser c. 1552 1599 46–47 Marble memorial erected in 1620 on south wall of Poets' Corner, fully restored 1778[60] Poet
... Robert Stapylton c.1607 1669 61–62 Unmarked grave in the South Transept[61] Playwright
... Mary Steele 1678 1718 40 Grave and gravestone in South Transept[62] Letter writer
Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809 1892 83 Large public funeral, 12 October 1892.[63] In 1893 the government formally requested there be a bust of Tennyson in Poets' Corner. The businessman-botanist Charles Jenner offered Thomas Woolner's 1857 bust of Tennyson to the Abbey, and it was placed near Tennyson's gravestone, by moving a tablet to Christopher Anstey, in 1895. There was no formal unveiling ceremony.[64] Poet
Connop Thirlwall 1797 1875 78 Marble bust by sculptor Edward Davis[65] Bishop and historian
Thomas Triplet 1602 1670 68 Marble memorial on west wall of South Transept[66] Prebendary
Eva Marie Veigel 1724 1822 98 Buried with her husband David Garrick[38] Dancer

Memorials

[edit]
Image Name Born Died Age at death Year
commemorated 		Details of
memorial 		Occupation
Joseph Addison 1672 1719 47 1809 Statue by Richard Westmacott. Addison is buried elsewhere in the Abbey. Poet and essayist
Christopher Anstey 1724 1805 80 1807 Marble wall tablet[67] Poet and author
Matthew Arnold 1822 1888 65 1989 Memorial bust of 1891 in the east aisle of Poets' Corner by Albert Bruce-Joy. There is also a 1989 limestone and slate plaque honouring Arnold, by Donald Buttress, in Poets' Corner.[68] Poet
Peggy Ashcroft 1907 1991 83 2005 Floor stone Actress
W. H. Auden 1907 1973 66 1974 Floor stone Poet
Jane Austen 1775 1817 41 1967 Wall tablet Author
John Betjeman 1906 1984 77 1996 Marble wall tablet[69] Poet and author
William Blake 1757 1827 69 1957 Bronze memorial bust by Jacob Epstein, 1957[70] Poet and artist
... Barton Booth 1681 1733 51–52 1772 Monument Actor
Charlotte Brontë 1816 1855 38 1947 Memorial tablet Author
Anne Brontë 1820 1849 29 1947 Memorial tablet Author
Emily Brontë 1818 1848 30 1947 Memorial tablet Author
Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 1861 55 1906 Inscription added to Robert Browning's gravestone in 1906[20] Poet
Fanny Burney 1752 1840 87 2002 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Author and playwright
Robert Burns 1759 1796 37 1885 Marble memorial bust by John Steell. Unveiled 7 March 1885 by the Earl of Rosebery.[71][72] Poet
Samuel Butler 1612 1680 68 1721 Memorial bust thought to be by John Michael Rysbrack; Butler is buried at St Paul's, Covent Garden.[73] Poet
George, Lord Byron 1788 1824 36 1969 Floor stone Poet
Cædmon fl.657 fl.680 unknown 1966 Floor stone Poet
John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll 1678 1743 64 1749 Monument by Louis-Francois Roubiliac, erected 1749, with figures representing History, Eloquence and Minerva. The Duke is buried elsewhere in the Abbey.[74] Soldier and nobleman
Lewis Carroll 1832 1898 65 1982 Floor stone Author
John Clare 1793 1864 70 1989 Floor stone Poet
Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772 1834 61 1885 Memorial bust by Hamo Thornycroft[75] Poet
George Eliot 1819 1880 61 1980 Floor stone Author
T. S. Eliot 1888 1965 76 1967 Floor stone Poet and playwright
David Frost 1939 2013 74 2014 Floor stone[76] Journalist, comedian, writer and media personality
Elizabeth Gaskell 1810 1865 55 2010 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Novelist
John Gielgud 1904 2000 96 2022 Floor stone Actor and director
Oliver Goldsmith 1728 1774 45 1776 Memorial tablet and bust Poet and playwright
Adam Lindsay Gordon 1833 1870 36 1934 Memorial bust by Kathleen Scott[77] Poet
John Ernest Grabe 1666 1711 44–45 1727 Monument by Francis Bird on the west wall of Poets' Corner erected 1726[78] Priest and theologian
Thomas Gray 1716 1771 54 1778 Monument Poet and historian
Stephen Hales 1677 1761 83 1761 Monument Priest and scientist
Robert Herrick 1591 1674 83 1994 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Poet
Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844 1889 44 1975 Floor stone Poet
A. E. Housman 1859 1936 77 1996 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Poet
Ted Hughes 1930 1998 68 2011 Floor stone at the foot of that for T. S. Eliot, one of his main influences Poet
Henry James 1843 1916 72 1976 Floor stone Author
Ben Jonson 1572 1637 65 1723 Memorial with portrait medallion and masks designed by James Gibbs and carved by John Michael Rysbrack.[79] Playwright and poet
John Keats 1795 1821 25 1954 Mural tablet Poet
John Keble 1792 1866 73 1873 Bust by Thomas Woolner Poet
Charles Kingsley 1819 1875 55 1875 Bust by Thomas Woolner Author
Philip Larkin 1922 1985 63 2016 Floor stone. The stone was inscribed with the final two lines from "An Arundel Tomb":

Our almost-instinct almost true:
What will survive of us is love.[7]

 Poet and novelist
D. H. Lawrence 1885 1930 44 1985 Floor stone Author and poet
Edward Lear 1812 1888 75 1988 Floor stone Author and poet
C. S. Lewis 1898 1963 64 2013 Floor stone. The dedication service, at noon on 22 November 2013, included a reading from The Last Battle by Douglas Gresham, younger stepson of Lewis. Flowers were laid by Walter Hooper, trustee and literary advisor to the Lewis Estate. An address was delivered by former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. The floor stone inscription is a quotation from an address by Lewis: "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else."[80] Author
Jenny Lind 1820 1887 67 1894 Wall tablet. "A medallion portrait of the famous singer – the last work of the late Mr Birch – has been placed in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, and was yesterday unveiled by the Princess Christian."[81] Opera singer
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 1882 75 1884 Marble bust by Thomas Brock, unveiled 1 March 1884.[82][83] Poet
F. W. Maitland 1850 1906 56 2001 Floor stone Historian
Christopher Marlowe (disputed portrait) 1564 1593 29 2002 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Playwright and poet
William Mason 1724 1797 72–73 1799 Memorial, by John Bacon, in the east aisle of Poets' Corner Poet
F. D. Maurice 1805 1872 66 1932 Bust in east aisle of Poets' Corner by Thomas Woolner Author
... Thomas May 1595 1650 54–56 1880 Wall stone Poet and playwright
John Milton 1608 1674 65 1737 Monument Poet and author
John Philips 1676 1709 32 1710 Monument Poet
Alexander Pope 1688 1744 56 1994 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Poet
John Pringle 1707 1782 74 ... Monument Military physician
Hannah Pritchard 1711 1768 56–57 ... Monument. Later moved to the triforium. Actress
John Ruskin 1819 1900 80 1902 Portrait roundel in bronze by Edward Onslow Ford. Unveiled 8 February 1902, after a controversy over whether Ruskin felt monuments like this wasted money and disfigured a building's architectural unity.[84] Poet and art critic
Walter Scott 1771 1832 61 1897 Bust by the Scottish sculptor John Hutchison, "a beautifully executed copy of the famous Chantrey bust at Abbotsford".[85] Author and poet
Thomas Shadwell c.1642 1692 ~50 c.1700 Monument Poet and playwright
William Shakespeare 1564 1616 52 1740 Statue with surround designed by William Kent and carved by Peter Scheemakers[86] Playwright and poet
Granville Sharp 1735 1813 77 1816 Monument Slavery abolitionist
Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 1822 29 1954 Mural tablet Poet
Robert Southey 1774 1843 68 1845 Marble memorial bust with surround by Henry Weekes[87] Poet
William Makepeace Thackeray 1811 1863 52 1865 Marble bust by Carlo Marochetti[88] Author
James Thomson 1700 1748 47 1762 Sculpture group designed by Robert Adam and carved by Michael Spring[89] Poet and playwright
Dylan Thomas 1914 1953 39 1982 Floor stone Poet and author
Anthony Trollope 1815 1882 67 1993 Floor stone Author
William Vincent 1739 1815 76 c.1815[90] 1 Monument Dean of Westminster
Oscar Wilde 1854 1900 46 1995 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Playwright and author
William Wordsworth 1770 1850 80 1854 Statue by Frederick Thrupp erected 1854.[91] Poet
James Wyatt 1746 1813 67 ... Monument Architect

First World War poets

[edit]

The memorial in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, to 16 Great War poets is a slate stone slab with the names of the poets inscribed on it. It was unveiled on 11 November 1985, the 67th anniversary of the Armistice. An additional inscription quotes Owen's "Preface":[92]

My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity.

Poets of the First World War memorial
Image Poet Born Died Age when
war started[93] 		Notes on
war service 		Notes on
poetry
... Richard Aldington 1892 1962 22 Enlisted 1916
Commissioned 1917
Second Lieutenant
Royal Sussex Regiment 		...
Laurence Binyon 1869 1943 44 Volunteered in 1915 and 1916
Hôpital Temporaire d'Arc-en-Barrois
British hospital for French soldiers 		...
Edmund Blunden 1896 1974 17 Commissioned August 1915
Second Lieutenant
Royal Sussex Regiment 		...
Rupert Brooke † 1887 1915 27 Commissioned August 1914
Temporary Sub-Lieutenant
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve 		...
... Wilfrid Gibson 1878 1962 35 Rejected several times
Enlisted October 1917
Army Service Corps
(Motor Transport)
Never saw active service 		...
... Robert Graves 1895 1985 19 Commissioned 1914
Royal Welch Fusiliers 		...
Julian Grenfell † 1888 1915 26 Commissioned 1910
Captain (at time of death)
Royal Dragoons 		...
... Ivor Gurney 1890 1937 23 Private
Gloucestershire Regiment 		...
David Jones 1895 1974 18 Enlisted 1915
Private
Royal Welch Fusiliers 		...
Robert Nichols 1893 1944 20 Commissioned 1914
Royal Artillery 		...
Wilfred Owen † 1893 1918 21 Enlisted 1915
Commissioned June 1916
Second Lieutenant
Manchester Regiment 		...
Herbert Read 1893 1968 20 Captain
Green Howards 		...
Isaac Rosenberg † 1890 1918 23 Enlisted October 1915
12th Suffolk Folk Regiment
King's Own Royal Lancaster 		...
Siegfried Sassoon 1886 1967 27 Enlisted 1914
Commissioned May 1915
Captain (at end of war)
Royal Welch Fusiliers 		...
Charles Sorley † 1895 1915 19 Enlisted 1914
Captain (at time of death)
Suffolk Regiment 		...
Edward Thomas † 1878 1917 36 Enlisted July 1915
Artists Rifles
Commissioned November 1916
Royal Garrison Artillery 		...

The † symbol indicates poets who died during the war.

Royal Ballet

[edit]

The stone slab floor memorial to the four founders of the Royal Ballet was dedicated on 17 November 2009.

Founders of the Royal Ballet floor stone
Image Name Born Died Age at death Notes on
Royal Ballet role
Ninette de Valois 1898 2001 102 ...
... Frederick Ashton 1904 1988 84 ...
Constant Lambert 1905 1951 45 ...
Margot Fonteyn 1919 1991 71 ...

Elsewhere in the Abbey

[edit]

Poets and writers commemorated elsewhere in Westminster Abbey, but not in Poets' Corner proper.[94][95]

Image Name Born Died Age at death Year
commemorated 		Details of
memorial 		Notes on
artistic career
Robert Ayton 1570 1638 67–68 Bronze bust with figures of Apollo and Athene in south anbulatory[96] Poet
Aphra Behn 1640 1689 48 Gravestone Author and playwright
Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1803 1873 69 Gravestone Author and poet
John Bunyan 1628 1688 59 1912 Memorial window Author
Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1623 1673 69–70 Monument Author and poet
William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1592 1676 84 Monument Playwright and poet
William Congreve 1670 1729 58 c.1730 Monument Playwright and poet
Noël Coward 1899 1973 73 1984 Floor stone Playwright and composer
William Cowper 1731 1800 68 1876 Memorial window Poet and hymnodist
Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon 1637 1685 47–48 Grave not marked Poet
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield 1804 1881 76 1884 Statue by Joseph Boehm Author and politician
George Herbert 1593 1633 39 1876 Memorial window Poet and orator
Robert Howard 1626 1698 72 Playwright
James R. Lowell 1819 1891 72 Tablet and window Poet
Anne Oldfield 1683 1730 47 Gravestone Actress
Henry Spelman c.1564 1641 76–77 Gravestone Antiquarian
Arthur P. Stanley 1815 1881 65 1884 Tomb and effigy Author
Sybil Thorndike 1882 1976 93 Gravestone Actress
Ralph Vaughan Williams 1872 1958 86 1958 Floor stone Composer
Isaac Watts 1674 1748 74 1779 Monument Hymnodist
P. G. Wodehouse 1881 1975 93 2019 Stone plaque designed by Stephen Raw and carved by Annet Stirling, unveiled in the south choir aisle in 2019 [97][98] Humourist, novelist, lyricist, playwright

See also

[edit]

Poets' Corner is also the title of a play by James Huntrods,[99] and The Poets' Corner was a book of caricatures of famous poets by Max Beerbohm published in 1904.

Notes and references

[edit]
  1. ^ Harold Bloom (2009). "Geoffrey Chaucer". p. 13. Infobase Publishing
  2. ^ "Elizabeth Gaskell". Westminster-abbey.org (25 September 2010). Retrieved on 21 October 2011.
  3. ^ Ted Hughes takes his place in Poets' Corner, BBC News, 6 December 2011
  4. ^ "CS Lewis honoured with Poets' Corner memorial". BBC News. Retrieved 23 November 2012
  5. ^ "Westminster Abbey honour for poet Philip Larkin". Westminster Abbey. June 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  6. ^ Sawyer, Patrick (26 November 2016). "'Outsider' Larkin finally joins the Establishment in Poets' Corner". The Daily Telegraph.
  7. ^ a b "Westminster Poets' Corner memorial for Philip Larkin". BBC News. BBC. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  8. ^ The Times, 26 March 1796, p. 3
  9. ^ A Service to Dedicate a Memorial to the Founders of the Royal Ballet, Westminster Abbey press release, November 2009, accessed 16 March 2010
  10. ^ "Monuments & Gravestones: Ben Jonson". Westminster Abbey 1065 to today. Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey. Archived from the original on 7 January 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  11. ^ Adams, J. Q. The Jonson Allusion Book. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1922: 195–6.
  12. ^ Dunton, Larkin (1896). The World and Its People. Silver, Burdett. p. 34.
  13. ^ Abbey to honour Cranford's creator, Westminster Abbey press release, January 2010, accessed 15 March 2010
  14. ^ "Elizabeth Gaskell". Westminster Abbey.
  15. ^ "Oscar Wilde". Westminster Abbey. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  16. ^ "Isaac Barrow". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  17. ^ a b "Francis and John Beaumont". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  18. ^ "William Benson". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  19. ^ "Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Richard Busby". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  22. ^ "William Camden". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  23. ^ The Times, 29 June 1844, p. 6; 4 July 1844, p. 5
  24. ^ "Thomas Campbell". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  25. ^ The Times, 22 August 1844, p. 3
  26. ^ "Henry Francis Cary". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  27. ^ "Isaac Casaubon". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  28. ^ "Sir William Chambers". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  29. ^ "Geoffrey Chaucer". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  30. ^ "Abraham Cowley". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  31. ^ "Richard Cumberland". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  32. ^ "Sir William Davenant". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  33. ^ "Sir John Denham". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  34. ^ 'Funeral of Mr. Charles Dickens', The Times, 15 June 1870.
  35. ^ "Michael Drayton". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  36. ^ "John Dryden". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  37. ^ "Adam Fox". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  38. ^ a b "David & Eva Garrick". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  39. ^ "John Gay". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  40. ^ The Times, 13 February 1827, p. 3
  41. ^ "Charles Bacon". A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  42. ^ "Richard Hakluyt". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  43. ^ "George Frederic Handel". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  44. ^ "Monument to George Frederick Handel". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  45. ^ "John Henderson". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  46. ^ "Sir Henry (Brodribb) Irving". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  47. ^ "Samuel Johnson". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  48. ^ "Rudyard Kipling". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  49. ^ "Nicholas Litlyngton". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  50. ^ The Times, 9 January 1860, p. 10; 10 January 1860, p. 9
  51. ^ "Thomas Babington Macaulay". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  52. ^ "James Macpherson". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  53. ^ "Gilbert Murray". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  54. ^ "Laurence Olivier". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  55. ^ "Thomas Parr". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  56. ^ "Matthew Prior". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  57. ^ "Nicholas Rowe". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  58. ^ "Richard Brinsley Sheridan". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  59. ^ "Robert South". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  60. ^ "Edmund Spenser". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  61. ^ "Sir Robert Stapylton". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  62. ^ "Dame Mary Steele". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  63. ^ The Times, 13 October 1892
  64. ^ "In accordance with the wish of the family there was no formal ceremonial of unveiling, and, as in the case of General Gordon, Dean Stanley, and the Earl of Beaconsfield, the memorial was placed, a possession for ever, in the presence of none save those by whom the work was done." The Times, 3 June 1895, p. 6
  65. ^ "Connop Thirlwall". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  66. ^ "Thomas Triplet". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  67. ^ "Christopher Anstey". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  68. ^ "Thomas and Matthew Arnold". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  69. ^ "Sir John Betjeman". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  70. ^ "William Blake". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  71. ^ The Times, 9 March 1885
  72. ^ "Robert Burns". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  73. ^ "Samuel Butler". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  74. ^ "John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  75. ^ "Samuel Taylor Coleridge". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  76. ^ "Sir David Frost's memorial at Westminster's Poets' Corner". BBC News. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  77. ^ "Adam Lindsay Gordon". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  78. ^ "John Ernest Grabe". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  79. ^ "Ben Jonson". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  80. ^ A service to dedicate a memorial to C. S. Lewis, writer, scholar, apologist. Westminster Abbey. 2013.
  81. ^ The Times, 21 April 1894
  82. ^ The Times, 2 November 1992, p. 6; 26 February 1884, p. 10; 3 March 1884, p. 8
  83. ^ "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  84. ^ Sydney C. Cockerell letter to The Times, 22 August 1900; The Times, 7 February 1902, p. 9; 10 February 1902, p. 8
  85. ^ The Times, 22 May 1897, p. 16
  86. ^ "William Shakespeare". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  87. ^ "Robert Southey". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  88. ^ "William Makepeace Thackeray". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  89. ^ "James Thomson". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  90. ^ "Yesterday morning, at half-past eleven o'clock, the remains of Dr. VINCENT, the Dean of Westminster, were interred in a private manner, at the back of DRYDEN's monument." The Times, 30 December 1815, p. 3
  91. ^ "William Wordsworth". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  92. ^ Poets of the Great War Archived 22 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Brigham Young University, accessed 14 March 2010
  93. ^ The date used here is 4 August 1914, the date Britain entered the war.
  94. ^ Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey (James Wilkinson, 2007), inside back page
  95. ^ Treasures of Westminster Abbey (Tony Trowles, 2008)
  96. ^ "Robert Ayton". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  97. ^ "PG Wodehouse commemorated with Westminster Abbey plaque". Financial Times. 20 September 2019. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  98. ^ "P.G Wodehouse". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  99. ^ "Two 4-star reviews for Poets' Corner".
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