Graves, Robert

Graves, Robert (von Ranke)

(born July 24/26, 1895, London, Eng.—died Dec. 7, 1985, Deyá, Majorca, Spain) British man of letters. He served as an officer at the Western Front during World War I and his first three volumes of poetry were published during that time; they include some of the finest English love poems of the century. In 1926 he began a 13-year relationship with the American poet Laura Riding (1901–91), with whom he founded a press, briefly published a journal, and collaborated as a writer. After 1929 he lived principally in Majorca, Spain. The most famous of his more than 120 books are Good-bye to All That (1929), a grim memoir of the war; the historical novel I, Claudius (1934; televised in 1976); and erudite, controversial studies in mythology, notably The White Goddess (1948).

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Graves, Robert 

Born July 26, 1895, in London. English writer and critic.

Graves fought in World War I (1914–18), and his wartime impressions are reflected in his early poems and the autobiographical antiwar work Good-Bye to All That (1929). In later collections of poetry he broke with reality. He published the historical novels I, Claudius (1934) and Claudius the God (1934) and theoretical and critical works on English poetry. From 1961 to 1966, Graves was professor of poetry at Oxford University. His translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was published in 1967.

WORKS

Collected Poems. London, 1965.
Poetic Craft and Principle: Lectures and Talks. London, 1967.

REFERENCES

Kirkham, M. The Poetry of Robert Graves. London, 1969.
Higginson. F. H. A Bibliography of the Works of Robert Graves. London. 1966.

N. P. MIKHAL’SKAIA