Muir, Edwin

(1887-1959)

   The son of a farmer, he was born in Orkney, Scotland, and lived there until he was 14. The family moved to Glasgow, where he worked as office boy and clerk, and within five years, both his parents and two of his brothers had died. He married Willa Anderson in 1919 and from 1921 to 1924, they traveled throughout Europe while he supported them chiefly with literary reviews and teaching. He found peace within himself and started writing poetry in 1924-25 and wrote his best poems when over fifty. Between 1930 and 1952, the Muirs translated more than forty novels, and their close partnership continued until he died. He worked for the British Council in Edinburgh, Pargue, and Rome; was warden of Newbattle Abbey, an adult education college near Edinburgh (1950-55); and was Charles Eliot Norton professor, Harvard (1955-1956). He was appointed Commander of the British Empire in 1953 and received honorary degrees from five universities. He died in Cambridge. Some of his poems: "One Foot in Eden," "Robert the Bruce," "Salem, Massachusetts," "The Brothers," "The Enchanted Knight," "The Interrogation," "The Rider Victory," "The Wayside Station."

   Sources: Biography of Willa Muir, Writing Scotland: A Journey Through Scotland's Literature (http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/arts/writingscotland/writers/willa_muir/. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Edwin Muir, External Links and References (http://muir.rhizomatics.org.uk/). Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. The Bloodaxe Book of 20th Century Poetry, from Britain and Ireland. Edna Longley, ed. Bloodaxe Books, 2000. 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 Complete Poems of Edwin Muir. Peter Butter, ed. The Association for Scottish Literary Studies, 1991. The Earth is the Lord's: Poems of the Spirit. Helen Plotz, ed. Thomas Y. Crowell, 1965. The Mentor Book of Major British Poets. Oscar Williams, ed. New American Library, 1963. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.