Gordon Bottomley (1874 – 1948) was an English poet, known particularly for his verse dramas. He was partly disabled by illness. His main influences were the later Victorians: Pre-Raphaelites and William Morris.
He was born and educated in Keighley, Yorkshire; he started to write when forced to spend much of his time lying down. He later lived with his wife at Cartmel and Silverdale.
He first edited the poetry of Isaac Rosenberg in 1922, whom as a correspondent he had encouraged from 1915. He also corresponded with Paul Nash from 1910. The composer Edgar Bainton (1880 - 1956) was a close associate, and set The Crier by Night to music.
Works
- The Mickle Drede (1896)
- Poems as White Nights (1899)
- The Crier by Night (1902) verse drama
- The Gate of Smaragdus (1904).
- Midsummer Eve (1905) verse drama
- Chambers of Imagery (1907, 1912)
- Laodice and Danaë (1909) verse drama
- The Riding to Lithend (1909) verse drama
- A Vision of Giorgione (1910)
- King Lear's Wife (1920) verse drama
- Gruach (1921) verse drama
- Britain's Daughter (1921) verse drama
- Poems of Thirty Years (1925)
- Scenes and Plays (1929)
- Festival Preludes (1930)
- A Carol for Christmas - Day before Dawn (1930)
- Lyric Plays (1932)
- The Acts of St. Peter (1933)
- The Collected Poems of Isaac Rosenberg (1937) edited with Denys Harding
- Choric Plays (1939)
- Kate Kennedy (1945) play
- Poems and Plays (1953)
Reference
- Poet & Painter. Being the correspondence between Gordon Bottomley and Paul Nash, 1910-1946 (1955) edited by Claude Colleer Abbott and Anthony Bertram
- Letters from Edward Thomas to Gordon Bottomley (1968) edited by R.G. Thomas
