Martin Roger Seymour-Smith (24 April 1928 – 1 July 1998) was a British poet, critic and biographer.
Seymour-Smith was born in London. He began as one of the most promising of Anglophone post-war poets, but became better known as a critic, writing biographies of Robert Graves (whom he met first at age 14 and maintained close ties with), Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy, and producing numerous critical studies. He was also interested in astrology.
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Martin Roger Seymour-Smith (24 April 1928 – 1 July 1998) was a British poet, critic and biographer.
Seymour-Smith was born in London. He began as one of the most promising of Anglophone post-war poets, but became better known as a critic, writing biographies of Robert Graves (whom he met first at age 14 and maintained close ties with), Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy, and producing numerous critical studies. He was also interested in astrology.
The poet and critic Robert Nye stated that that Seymour-Smith was "one of the finest British poets after 1945." Others to praise his poetry included Robert Graves, C. H. Sisson, Geoffrey Grigson and James Reeves.
He came to prominence in 1963, as the editor of the first twentieth century edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets to use the 'original' spelling. Characteristically, his commentary probed issues around Shakespeare's sexuality which upset many. Later, the author's Fallen Women (1969) and Sex and Society (1975) would become 'standard...
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