Symons, Arthur

Symons, Arthur

▪ English poet and critic
in full  Arthur William Symons 
born Feb. 28, 1865, Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Eng.
died Jan. 22, 1945, Wittersham, Kent
 poet and critic, the first English champion of the French Symbolist (Symbolist movement) poets.

      Symons's schooling was irregular, but, determined to be a writer, he soon found a place in the London literary journalism of the 1890s. He joined the Rhymers' Club (a group of poets including William Butler Yeats and Ernest Dowson), contributed to The Yellow Book (Yellow Book, The), and became editor of a new magazine, The Savoy (1896), with Aubrey Beardsley as art editor. Symons was well versed in European literature and knew the French writers Paul Verlaine, Stéphane Mallarmé, and Joris-Karl Huysmans. He expanded his pioneering essay "The Decadent Movement in Literature" (Harper's, November 1893) into a book, The Symbolist Movement in Literature (1899), which influenced both Yeats and T.S. Eliot; in it he characterized Symbolist literature as suggesting or evoking the “unseen reality apprehended by the consciousness.” Symons's criticism constitutes an ambitious development of Walter Pater's model of the “aesthetic critic.”

      Symons's best poetry is strongly fin de siècle in feeling. Days and Nights (1889), Silhouettes (1892), and London Nights (1895) contain admirable impressionist lyrics, sensitive to the complex moods of urban life. "Episode of a Night of May" is an exquisitely ironic fixing of the detail of modern social experience; "Maquillage" is one of the best statements of the Aesthetic cult of artifice; Yeats described "La Mélinite: Moulin Rouge" as “one of the most perfect lyrics of our time.” Symons suffered a serious attack of mental illness in 1908–10. He recovered to produce, over the next 20 years, a stream of travel writing, criticism, and translation, though he never quite regained the intense originality of his early period.

Additional Reading
Karl Beckson, Arthur Symons: A Life (1987); John M. Munro, Arthur Symons (1969); Lawrence W. Markert, Arthur Symons, Critic of the Seven Arts (1988).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Symons,Arthur — Sy·mons (sīʹmənz), Arthur. 1865 1945. British poet and literary critic who translated many French symbolist works into English and wrote The Symbolist Movement in Literature (1899). * * * …   Universalium

  • Symons, Arthur (William) — (28 feb. 1865, Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Inglaterra–22 ene. 1945, Wittersham, Kent). Poeta y crítico inglés. Fue colaborador de The Yellow Book, una revista de vanguardia, y editor de The Savoy (1896). El movimiento simbolista en la… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Symons, Arthur William — (1865 1945)    Born at Milford Haven, Wales, the son of a Methodist minister from Cornwall, he was an introspective and self absorbed child who found solace in literature. In 1884, he edited four volumes of the Shakespeare Quarto Facsimiles for… …   British and Irish poets

  • Symons, Arthur — (b. 1865)    Poet and critic. An Introduction to the Study of Browning (1886), Days and Nights (1889), London Nights (1895), The Symbolist Movement in Literature (1899), Images of Good and Evil (1900), Studies in Seven Arts (1906), etc …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Symons, Arthur (William) — born Feb. 28, 1865, Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Eng. died Jan. 22, 1945, Wittersham, Kent English poet and critic. He contributed to The Yellow Book, an avant garde journal, and edited The Savoy (1896). His Symbolist Movement in Literature… …   Universalium

  • Arthur Symons — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Arthur William Symons (Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Inglaterra, 28 de febrero de 1865 Wittersham, Kent, 22 de enero de 1945) fue un poeta, crítico y editor inglés, introductor del simbolismo en el Reino Unido.… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Arthur Symons — Arthur William Symons (* 28. Februar 1865 in Wittersham, Kent; † 22. Januar 1945) war ein englischer Lyriker und Kritiker. Symons wurde bekannt mit seinen den Geist der Dekadenz und des Fin de Siècle spiegelnden Gedichten (Days and nights, 1889;… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Arthur Symons — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Symons. Arthur Symons Arthur Symons est écrivain britannique (1865 1945). Après qu il a connu une certaine célébrité au sein de la société londonienne, l écriva …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Arthur — /ahr theuhr/, n. 1. Chester Alan, 1830 86, 21st president of the U.S. 1881 85. 2. legendary king in ancient Britain: leader of the Knights of the Round Table. 3. a male given name. * * * (as used in expressions) Port Arthur Adamov Arthur Arthur s …   Universalium

  • Arthur — (as used in expressions) Adamov, Arthur Arthur, Chester A(lan) Arthur, paso Ashe, Arthur (Robert), Jr. Baldwin, James (Arthur) Balfour (de Whittingehame), Arthur James, 1 conde Bell, (Arthur) Clive (Heward) Bliss, Sir Arthur (Edward Drummond)… …   Enciclopedia Universal

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”