Alfred Noyes

Alfred Noyes ( born September 16, 1880 in Wolverhampton, England; † June 28, 1958 on the Isle of Wight ) was a British poet known for his ballads, The Highwayman (1906 ) and The Barrel Organ.

Life

Alfred Noyes was the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes in Wolverhampton. He attended Exeter College, Oxford, but without making there a degree.

At the age of 21, he published his first collection of poems, The Loom Years. From 1903 to 1908 was followed by five more volumes of poetry, including The Forest of Wild Thyme and The Flower of Old Japan and Other Poems.

In 1907 he married Garnett Daniels. From 1914 to 1923 he taught English literature at Princeton University. After the death of his wife Noyes converted in 1926 to the Roman Catholic Church. This Confession treated Noyes in his 1934 published book The Unknown God. Later he married Mary Angela Mayne Weld - Blundell, daughter of an old Anglican church rejecting family. Together they had three children: Henry, Veronica and Margaret.

Because with age progresses, blindness Noyes was forced to dictate his works. In 1953, his autobiography, Two Worlds for Memory was published.

Noyes died at the age of 77 and was buried on the Isle of Wight. His life's work includes about 60 books, including books of poetry, novels and short stories. Noyes ' poems honor patriotism and Kriegsheldentum, reflect his appreciation of nature, his respect for scientific research and his faith in God.

His ballad The Highwayman was first set to music by the American singer-songwriter Phil Ochs and published by 1965 erschienenem album I Is not Marching Anymore. Commercially successful this ballad was later neuvertont of the Canadian Loreena McKennitt on their 1997 album The Book Of Secrets. The setting Loreena McKennitt was also taken up by the Irish singer Andy Irvine on the CD Way out Yonder.