Bridges, Robert

Bridges, Robert (Seymour)

Robert Bridges, gold-point drawing by W. Strang; in the National Portrait Gallery, London

(credit: Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London)

(born Oct. 23, 1844, Walmer, Kent, Eng.—died April 21, 1930, Boar's Hill, Oxford) English poet. He published several long poems and poetic dramas, but his reputation rests on the lyrics collected in Shorter Poems (1890, 1894), which reveal his mastery of prosody. His 1916 edition of the poetry of his friend Gerard Manley Hopkins rescued it from obscurity. He was poet laureate of England from 1913 until his death.

---

Bridges, Robert (died 1656) iron manufacturer, magistrate; born in England. He came to Massachusetts in 1641 and was the only magistrate in Lynn for many years. He took specimens of bog ore from the Saugus River to London (1642) and in 1643 formed "The Company of Undertakers for the Iron Works," the first iron works established in America.