Poems and Verse of Winifred Holtby

Unabridged ed
ISBN: 978-1-4438-4239-6
Verlag: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 89 Seiten, Format (B × H): 147 mm x 208 mm, Gewicht: 128 g

This book was conceived after reading Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth and Testament of Friendship. Winifred Holtby died very early after suffering from Bright’s Disease – renal failure – aged only 37 in 1935. Into these years, she crammed more than most people achieve in an average life. She was a kind, gentle and very generous person; she had a strong belief in equality of sex, race and status, and was a very strong feminist. She became a Director of the feminist newspaper Time and Tide. She wrote several novels, the most famous being South Riding.

During her life, she also wrote many poems but they were not published, apart from 16 in a very small book called Frozen Earth and Other Poems (1935). The Poems and Verse of Winifred Holtby captures the majority of her poetical works, which point to periods in her life, including the WAAC during 1918, (“Trains in France”); her time in South Africa in 1928 (“Hills of the Transvaal”); and the problems she had with Harry Pearson, her “boy friend that isn’t a boyfriend” (“The Dead Man,” “Epilogue to Romance,” “The Robber” and “The Grudging Ghost”).

The span of the poems range from examples of her early work (“Namely Only” and “Sad Ascension Day”), which should appeal to children and young adults; to “The Debt,” which describes Winifred’s feeling of the debt she thought she owed to life, which gives the reader an idea of the caring person that she was; through to one poignant poem which she wrote towards the end of her life, “The Valley of Shadows,” which is a poem of love and thankfulness and shows the debt she considered she owed to her close friend Vera Britttain.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Webb, Antony

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Lyrik und Dichter
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturkritik: Hermeneutik und Interpretation
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Englische Literatur

Über Autor(innen)

Webb, Antony
Antony Webb was born in March 1940 during the Second World War, and he saw two homes destroyed by German bombing. He was educated at Sherborne Preparatory School in Beddington, Surrey, and then won a scholarship to Croydon Secondary Technical School. Webb joined the Royal Navy in 1957 and saw active service in South Arabia and East Africa. He rose to Weapons Engineering Warrant Officer and retired in 1981. He was a mature student and has studied at Brighton University, achieving a Higher National Certificate. He was later awarded a BSc (Hons) Open Degree in Social and Political Science. Webb joined the Civil Service and worked for Special Branch and Scotland Yard. He retired in 2000 and then worked as an advocate for the elderly in the Norfolk Elders Advocacy Alliance (NEAA), retiring again in 2005.

Antony Webb was born in March 1940 during the Second World War, and he saw two homes destroyed by German bombing. He was educated at Sherborne Preparatory School in Beddington, Surrey, and then won a scholarship to Croydon Secondary Technical School. Webb joined the Royal Navy in 1957 and saw active service in South Arabia and East Africa. He rose to Weapons Engineering Warrant Officer and retired in 1981. He was a mature student and has studied at Brighton University, achieving a Higher National Certificate. He was later awarded a BSc (Hons) Open Degree in Social and Political Science. Webb joined the Civil Service and worked for Special Branch and Scotland Yard. He retired in 2000 and then worked as an advocate for the elderly in the Norfolk Elders Advocacy Alliance (NEAA), retiring again in 2005.