Ruth Pitter
Ruth Pitter (1897-1992) was an influential English poet, notable for her contributions to 20th-century literature. Born in Ilford, Essex, she was raised in a family dedicated to education, where her parents' struggles in teaching significantly influenced her writing. Pitter began composing poetry at an early age, inspired by the natural world and the literary works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth. Despite her lack of formal academic accolades, Pitter's talent was recognized early on when her poem "Field Glasses" was published in 1911, making her a published author by the age of thirteen.
Throughout her career, Pitter faced challenges, including financial constraints that limited her educational opportunities, leading her to work in various clerical positions. Her perseverance paid off as she published several collections of poetry, gaining recognition from esteemed literary figures like Hilaire Belloc. Over the years, Pitter received numerous prestigious awards, including the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1955, making her the first woman to achieve this honor. Pitter's legacy as one of the most respected women poets of her time is marked by her unique blend of intellect, nature, and mysticism in her work, alongside her efforts to live independently and authentically throughout her life.
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Ruth Pitter
Poet
- Born: November 7, 1897
- Birthplace: Ilford, Essex, England
- Died: February 29, 1992
- Place of death: Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, England
Biography
Ruth Pitter was born on November 7, 1897, in Ilford, Essex, England, a suburb of London lying toward the East End countryside. Her parents, George and Louisa R. (Murrell) Pitter, were assistant teachers at an East End elementary school. Their experiences at the school, where they received very low wages and struggled to assist poorly nourished children living in poverty, influenced Pitter’s writing career. She determined at an early age to live independent of patronage and a meal ticket marriage. After Pitter’s birth, her family moved to Goodmayes, another suburb on the outskirts of London, where she first attended school at the age of five. At this early age, she began to write poetry, inspired by her parents’ teachings to cultivate her interests. She grew up reading William Shakespeare and William Wordsworth, as did her siblings, and her younger sister Olive later became a successful novelist, known as Shirley Murrell, while her younger brother Geoffrey distinguished himself as a painter after retiring from a successful career in architecture.
Her parents also made a concerted effort to provide a rural lifestyle for the family, procuring a primitive cottage in the Essex forest. There, Pitter took long walks with her father in all seasons, and the cottage appears in her most frequently anthologized poem, “Stormcock in Elder.” Her experiences in the forest shaped her sense of the natural and mystical world, ideas that find fusion in her work. Although Pitter’s poetry exhibits a keen intellect, academics were not her strongest suit. While her sister earned an annual education allowance award based upon her performance in a county scholarship examination, Pitter did not. As a result, she was sent to the Coborn School, a Christian charity school that had previously arranged domestic service positions for its female students. At the age of twelve, Pitter did not enjoy the insistence on discipline and manners at Coborn, but she received instruction in numerous subjects while there, including Latin, and she gained an appreciation for Horace.
At the same time, Pitter continued to write poetry and her father continued to correct her work. His enthusiasm led him to send her work to the New Age for publication. Its editor, Alfred Rich Orage, published Pitter’s poem “Field Glasses” in the May 11, 1911 issue, when Pitter was only thirteen years old. She continued to publish in New Age until the magazine dissolved in 1921, and her book, First Poems (1920), contains many of those works. Through Orage, who, like her father, often edited Pitter’s work, she was exposed to the literary figures of the day.
By the beginning of World War I, Pitter lacked the funds or scholarships to pay for a college education. She took a job as a clerk in the War Office, although she later regretted her lack of university experience. After two years of suffering the miseries of paperwork and bad food, Pitter was ill and in need of some artistic outlet. She found it by working for a couple named Jennings, furniture makers who provided her with room and board (and eventually pay) and in whose employ she learned how to use woodworking tools.
The release of her first collection of poetry in 1920 did not make her an immediate success, but she attracted the attention of poet Hilaire Belloc, and he begged her to collect her poetry for publication in a collection in which he would write the preface. Belloc furnished the preface for First and Second Poems, 1912- 1925, published in 1927. By 1926, Pitter was able to establish her own household above the Jennings’ workshop, but she needed a larger income. With a partner, Kathleen O’Hara, Pitter established a furniture painting business, and the two remained lifelong companions. Eventually, Pitter received numerous awards for her work, including the Hawthornden Prize in 1937 and the Heinemann Award in 1954. She also won the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 1955, the first woman to receive this honor. In 1979, Pitter was named a commander of the Order of the British Empire. As a result, she was one of the most highly regarded women poets of the twentieth century.