Gordon Bottomley (1874 – 1948) was an English poet, known particularly for his verse dramas. He was partly disabled by illness. His main influences were the later Victorians: Pre-Raphaelites and William Morris.
He was born and educated in Keighley, Yorkshire; he started to write when forced to spend much of his time lying down. He later lived with his wife at Cartmell and Silverdale.
He first edited the poetry of Isaac Rosenberg in 1922, whom as a correspondent he had encouraged from 1915. He also corresponded with Paul Nash from 1910. The composer Edgar Bainton (1880 - 1956) was a close associate, and set The Crier by Night to music.
Works
The Mickle Drede (1896)
Poems as White Nights (1899)
The Crier by Night (1902) verse drama
The Gate of Smaragdus (1904).
Midsummer Eve (1905) verse drama
Chambers of Imagery (1907, 1912)
Laodice and Danaë (1909) verse drama
The Riding to Lithend (1909) verse drama
A Vision of Giorgione (1910)
King Lear's Wife (1920) verse drama
Gruach (1921) verse drama
Britain's Daughter (1921) verse drama
Poems of Thirty Years (1925)
Scenes and Plays (1929)
Festival Preludes (1930)
A Carol for Christmas - Day before Dawn (1930)
Lyric Plays (1932)
The Acts of St. Peter (1933)
The Collected Poems of Isaac Rosenberg (1937) edited with Denys Harding
Choric Plays (1939)
Kate Kennedy (1945) play
Poems and Plays (1953)
Reference
Poet & Painter. Being the correspondence between Gordon Bottomley and Paul Nash, 1910-1946 (1955) edited by Claude Colleer Abbott and Anthony Bertram
Letters from Edward Thomas to Gordon Bottomley (1968) edited by R.G. Thomas