Gascoyne, David, 1916-2001

Epithet: poet

David Gascoyne is an English poet and editor. He was born in Salisbury, England, and educated there and in London. He was influenced by French surrealist poets. Gascoyne authored "The Vagrant" (1950), "Night Thought" (1956) and other verse. "Collected Poems" was published in 1978. Gascoyne's "Collected Verse Translations" (1971) received much praise for his versions of the poetry of Holderlin.

David Emery Gascoyne (1916- 2001) was a poet, translator of works by André Breton and others, scholar and the author of a series of journals covering the years 1936-1944. He had a longstanding relationship with Enitharmon Press, founded in 1967 by Alan Clodd.

Gascoyne wrote two volumes of poetry (Roman Balcony and Other Poems, 1932 and Man's Life is This Meat, 1936), a novel (Opening Day, 1933) and a critical survey (A Short Survey of Surrealism, 1935) by the time he was twenty. He became one of the leading representatives of British Surrealism and was an important liaison between French and British circles. His diaries from the late 1930s are particularly well known and provide a picture of the Parisian avant-garde on the brink of the Second World War. His most criticially acclaimed later works include Night Thoughts and The Sun at Midnight.

David Gascoyne was born October 10, 1916 in Harrow, London, England. He published his first book of poetry in 1932 at the age of 16, and his subsequent publications quickly established his reputation as one of a small group of English surrealists.

Gascoyne spent the years just before World War II in Paris, where he became friendly with Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, André Breton, Paul Éluard and Pierre Jean Jouve. His poetry of this period was published in Poems 1937-1942 (1943) with illustrations by the artist Graham Sutherland.

It was in Whitecroft Hospital on the Isle of Wight that Gascoyne met his wife, Judy Lewis. They married in 1975. David Gascoyne died on 25 November 2001 at the age of 85.

The poet and translator David Emery Gascoyne was born October 10, 1916 in Harrow, England and died November 25, 2001. His early career was characterized by a precocious energy that produced two volumes of poetry ( Roman Balcony and Other Poems, 1932 and Man's Life is This Meat, 1936), a novel ( Opening Day, 1933) and a critical survey ( A Short Survey of Surrealism, 1935) by the time he was twenty. He became one of the leading representatives of British Surrealism and was an important liaison between French and British circles. His diaries from the late 1930s are particularly well known and provide an excellent picture of the Parisian avant-garde on the brink of the Second World War.

Gascoyne published several volumes of poetry in his early productive stage, but after 1956 he published little new poetry. His later work focused on lectures and appearances, essays, reviews, translations and the publication of his journals. His most criticially acclaimed later works include Night Thoughts and The Sun at Midnight . He also had a long-standing relationship with Enitharmon Press, founded in 1967 by Alan Clodd, which resulted in numerous publications.

Gascoyne's intense poetic sensitivity (often characterized as visionary or mystical) was tempered by severe depression and he devoted many years to recovery. It was during a stay at a hospital on the Isle of Wight that he met Judy Tyler Lewis, whom he married in 1975. He had four stepchildren.