Robert Graves Biography
English Writer Famous for "Goodbye to All That" and "I, Claudius"
English poet, novelist and critic Robert Graves is regarded the best writer of love poetry in his time. He is best known for his autobiography Goodbye to All That and historical novel I, Claudius.
His love poetry is both gloomy and romantically passionate. Although extremely personal, his work has universal appeal.
Early Life of Robert Graves
Robert Perceval Graves was born in London on July 24, 1895. The family was reasonably wealthy. His father was a school inspector, a scholar and minor Irish poet.
His childhood was a happy one, although he hated his school. Later however, he studied at Oxford University but did not graduate.
In 1914, at the age of 19, Graves joined the British Army, and while serving in the First World War, his first volume of poetry was published.
Graves as a Poet
Poetry was the passion Graves. He produced numerous volumes of poetry, essays, biographies, fiction and children's works.
Although he saw himself primarily as a poet, his best-known work is Goodbye to All That, a powerful autobiography. The book poignantly describes his unhappy time at school, the horrors of the First World War, and the unfortunate breakdown of his first marriage.
Graves wanted to maintain his own lifestyle as a poet. Although early in his career, he was recognized as one who wrote conventional poetry, alongside, he maintained a late-Romantic style, as he avoided being identified with any particular school of poetry.
Graves as Historical Novelist
I, Claudius and Claudius the God are the most famous of the many historical novels of Graves. His research for the novel Hercules, My Shipmate opened up his interest in myths and history.
Graves Other Works
The White Goddess, his most important work of nonfiction, is an imaginative reconstruction of an ancient myth. It's been said about him that he tended to avoid agreeing with people, that he aimed to cause upset in some of his novels, including King Jesus that showed a Christ who did not die on the cross.
The other side of this was that Graves wrote fiction for money, in order to sustain his passion for poetry.
He died at the age of 90, on December 7, 1985 in Mallorca, Spain.
Books by Robert Graves
- Poetic Unreason and Other Studies, 1925
- Goodbye to All That, 1929
- I, Claudius, 1934
- Claudius the God, 1934
- The Story of Marie Powell, Wife to Mr. Milton, 1943
- Hercules, My Shipmate, 1944
- King Jesus, 1946
- The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, 1948
- The Greek Myths, 1955
- Collected Poems, 1959
Sources:
- Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994.
- McGovern, Una, Ed. Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers / Harrap Publishers, 2002.
- Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997.
Robert Graves, English Poet, Novelist, Critic
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