History Focus
October 23

English poet, poet laureate of Great Britain (1913-1930).

Robert Bridges was born in Walmer, Kent, on October 23, 1844. He was educated at Eton College and the University of Oxford. He was a practicing physician in London for 13 years. In 1881 he developed a bad case of pneumonia. Upon recovering, he devoted himself to writing.

Bridges experimented with prosody - the study of the metrical structure of verse. He was also responsible for introducing a new meter based on syllables, not accents, into English verse. Among his poetic works are Prometheus, the Fire-Giver (1883); The Poetical Works (1912); and The Testament of Beauty (1929), generally considered his masterpiece. Robert Bridge also wrote verse dramas and critical essays, and in 1913 became one of the founders of the Society for Pure English. In 1913 he also became Poet Laureate of Great Britain.

Sources:
On this Day | Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) |