Empson, Sir William

(1906-1984)

   Born at Yokefleet Hall, Howden, Yorkshire, son of an Army officer, he was educated at Winchester College and studied mathematics and English at Magdalene College, Cambridge. His first book, Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930), established his reputation as a critic. He left Cambridge under a cloud, for sexual impropriety-entertaining a lady in his rooms. He was professor of English literature at Tokyo University from 1931 to 1934, and at Peking National University from 1937 to 1939. Blessed with a remarkable memory, he could write out the complete texts of many of the classics. During the war years he worked for the propaganda department of the BBC. From 1947 to 1952, he returned to his post at Peking National University, then was professor of English at Sheffield University from 1953 until his retirement in 1971. He was knighted in 1979 and had honorary degrees from the universities of East Anglia, Bristol, Sheffield, and Cambridge. He died in London. Some of his poems: "China," "Chinese Ballad," "Autumn on Nan-Yueh," "Aubade," "Bacchus," "Homage to the British Museum," "Missing Dates," "The Death of the King's Canary," "This Last Pain."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. Poemhunter (www.poemhunter.com). Portraits of Poets, Sebastian Barker, ed., Carcanet, 1986. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. The Poetry Antholog y, 1912-1977. Daryl Hine and Joseph Parisi, eds. Houghton Mifflin, 1978.