Poets' Corner is the name traditionally given to a section of the south transept of Westminster Abbey in London, where many poets, playwrights, and writers are buried or commemorated.
| Poets' Corner | |
|---|---|
 Memorials in Poets' Corner | |
 | |
| Details | |
| Established | 1400 |
| Location | |
| Country | London, England |
| Coordinates | 51°29′57″N 0°7′38.50″W / 51.49917°N 0.1273611°W |
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
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 magnificent 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.
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 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
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 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]
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
| 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 | 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 |
.jpg) | 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
| Image | Name | Born | Died | Age at death | Year commemorated | Details of memorial | Occupation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Joseph Addison | 1672 | 1719 | 47 | 1809 | Statue by Richard Westmacott | 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 |
_by_Edward_Francisco_Burney.jpg) | 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 |
Jul2006.jpg) | 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":
| 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 |
.jpg) | 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 |
_-_Trollope,_Anthony_(1815-1882).jpg) | 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
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.
| 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 | ... |
_cropped.jpg) | 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 | ... |
.jpg) | Wilfred Owen † | 1893 | 1918 | 21 | Enlisted 1915 Commissioned June 1916 Second Lieutenant Manchester Regiment | ... |
.jpg) | 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 | ... |
.jpg) | Siegfried Sassoon | 1886 | 1967 | 27 | Enlisted 1914 Commissioned May 1915 Captain (at end of war) Royal Welch Fusiliers | ... |
_cropped_and_retouched.jpg) | 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
The stone slab floor memorial to the four founders of the Royal Ballet was dedicated on 17 November 2009.
| 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
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
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
External links
Media related to Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey at Wikimedia Commons
