Poet. Born in Lancaster, the son of a clergyman, he was educated at St. Paul's School in London and at Trinity College, Oxford; where, in 1890, he won the Newdigate Prize for his poem "Persephone." After he graduated, he worked at the British Museum in the Department of Printed Books, rising to become the head of the Department of Oriental Prints and Drawings. Upon his retirement in 1933, he went to Harvard University as the Professor of Poetry, and then to Athens University as the Byron Professor of English Literature, in which position he was succeeded by Lord Dunsany. In addition to many works on the art of the Far East, he wrote six plays, a translation of Dante's Divine Comedy, and "The Madness of Merlin" the first part of an Arthurian trilogy which appeared in 1947, after his death; the two other parts were scarcely begun. He is, however, best known for his poetry and, in particular, "For the Fallen", which was first published in The Times newspaper on the 21st. September 1914, and which is still read every year on Remembrance Sunday. In 1904, Laurence Binyon married Cicely Margaret Powell, the daughter of a banker. They had three daughters, one of whom married Basil Gray, who succeeded Binyon as the head of Oriental Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. The other two daughters, Margaret (later Mrs. Higgens) and Helen are buried next to their parents.
Poet. Born in Lancaster, the son of a clergyman, he was educated at St. Paul's School in London and at Trinity College, Oxford; where, in 1890, he won the Newdigate Prize for his poem "Persephone." After he graduated, he worked at the British Museum in the Department of Printed Books, rising to become the head of the Department of Oriental Prints and Drawings. Upon his retirement in 1933, he went to Harvard University as the Professor of Poetry, and then to Athens University as the Byron Professor of English Literature, in which position he was succeeded by Lord Dunsany. In addition to many works on the art of the Far East, he wrote six plays, a translation of Dante's Divine Comedy, and "The Madness of Merlin" the first part of an Arthurian trilogy which appeared in 1947, after his death; the two other parts were scarcely begun. He is, however, best known for his poetry and, in particular, "For the Fallen", which was first published in The Times newspaper on the 21st. September 1914, and which is still read every year on Remembrance Sunday. In 1904, Laurence Binyon married Cicely Margaret Powell, the daughter of a banker. They had three daughters, one of whom married Basil Gray, who succeeded Binyon as the head of Oriental Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. The other two daughters, Margaret (later Mrs. Higgens) and Helen are buried next to their parents.
Bio by: Iain MacFarlaine
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