Lascelles Abercrombie
Lascelles Abercrombie was an English poet and playwright, born on January 9, 1881, into a wealthy family in Cheshire. The eighth of nine children, he was exposed to art and intellectual discussions from an early age. Although he began writing poetry as a child, his formal education in chemistry at Owens College was cut short due to his family's financial difficulties following the Boer War. Subsequently, he briefly worked as a quantity surveyor and journalist before marrying Catherine Gwatkin in 1909, who played a crucial role in his literary career.
Abercrombie's first volume of poetry, *Interludes and Poems*, was published in 1908, marking the beginning of his exploration of themes related to transcendence and ecstasy. Known for his dramatic poetry, he drew inspiration from other poets like Thomas Hardy and collaborated with contemporaries such as Robert Frost. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, despite struggling for financial stability, he maintained academic positions at several universities while continuing to develop his aesthetic philosophy through lectures and publications. Notably, his poetry garnered recognition with a volume published by Oxford University Press in 1930. Abercrombie passed away in October 1938, remembered primarily for his philosophical insights rather than his poetic style.
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Lascelles Abercrombie
Poet
- Born: January 9, 1881
- Birthplace: Ashton-upon-Mersey, Cheshire, England
- Died: October 27, 1938
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Lascelles Abercrombie, was born on January 9, 1881, to stockbroker William Abercrombie and Sarah Ann (Heron) Abercrombie. The eighth of nine children, Abercrombie grew up in Cheshire, England, in a family that possessed both wealth and status, and Abercrombie enjoyed a childhood surrounded by fashionable art and intellectual conversations. While he began writing verse at the age of nine, after preparation at Malvern College, his social status piloted him toward the honors school of chemistry at Owens College, Manchester, in 1900.
Despite this privileged education, Abercrombie left Owens without a degree in 1902 due to his family’s financial decline as a result of the Boer War. At this time, he hoped to support himself and his family through his writing. After leaving school, he worked briefly as a quantity surveyor and as a journalist for the Liverpool Courier. About the same time, Abercrombie met a Liverpool art student named Catherine Gwatkin, whom he married in 1909. She was instrumental in arranging the connections that led to publication of Abercrombie’s poems in the Independent Review and the Nation, and eventually to publication of his first volume of poetry, Interludes and Poems, in 1908. It was not a huge financial success, but the collection established Abercrombie’s fascination with an otherworldly release from restrictions and the joy of standing outside the constraints of the material world, which he described as ecstasy. Although sometimes criticized for his obsession with stylistic tendencies, Abercrombie found the most success with the dramatic poem. He was inspired by Thomas Hardy’s work to seek a unifying framework for his second volume of poetry.
During his most productive years, 1911-1914, Abercrombie and his wife enjoyed a life of rural bliss among poets such as Robert Frost and Wilfrid Gibson. In the early 1920’s, Abercrombie’s work, including two moderately successful plays, supported his idea that art is the fulfillment of man’s desire for a world in which meaning exists in the relationship of each object or event to the rest of the world. He expounded that idea and others from his lecture series, in publication of his aesthetic philosophy from 1922 to 1926. His publications never provided financial security for Abercrombie, and he maintained academic posts at the universities of Liverpool, Leeds, London and Oxford throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s. In 1926, Abercrombie became seriously ill, and he completed several poems during his period of convalescence. In 1930, the Oxford University Press published a volume of his poetry, an unusual honor for a living poet. Abercrombie passed away in October of 1938, noted more for the philosophies he expressed than his manner of expression. Like the disembodied voices of which he was so fond, Abercrombie too often let conviction stand for experience in his poetry.