Poet and critic. Born near Goole, Yorkshire. Considered a great English critic, his best-known work is his first publication "Seven Types of Ambiguity" 1930. Married Hetta in 1941 and had two sons, but was probably bisexual and an alcoholic. Spent a lot of his married life away from the London home, in Sheffield where he was chair of English literature at the university. Died at home, Studio House, 1 Hampstead Hill Gardens. (Did you notice how we managed not to mention the beard?)
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Sir William Empson
Commemorated ati
Sir William Empson
Unveiled by Sir Williams’ son, Jake Empson. At no 71 Empson lived in the the...
Other Subjects
Paul Verlaine
French poet. Born Metz, France. Has been described as an ugly, homicidal alcoholic. He effectively eloped from his own marriage to live with Rimbaud. Following his imprisonment for attempted murder...
4 memorials
T. S. Eliot
Poet and publisher. Born Saint Louis, Missouri as Thomas Stearns Eliot. His works include: The Waste Land, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (on which Lloyd Webber based Cats), Murder in the Cath...
7 memorials
Thomas Gray
Poet. Born Cornhill. Wrote ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’ and the lesser-known ‘Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes’ about Horace Walpole's cat. Died Cam...
2 memorials
Dame Edith Sitwell
Poet and biographer. Born at Scarborough into the aristocracy. 6-foot tall, with elongated features she added to the effect with her exuberant flowing and ornate clothing. Her poetry was avant ...
2 memorials
Robert Browning
Poet and playwright. Born Camberwell. His works include ‘Home Thoughts from Abroad’ and ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’. He fell in love with Elizabeth Barrett and married her secretly because of her ...
7 memorials
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