Edmund Blunden

Edmund Blunden was born in 1896 in London, and died in 1974 in Long Melford, Suffolk. He was a poet, critic, teacher and writer whose poetry is recognised for its portrayal of rural English life. He was educated at Christ’s Hospital School and then Oxford University, though his studies were interrupted by World War One, but he returned in 1919 to complete his degree.

Blunden taught in the Far East, including Japan, in the 1920s, and his later poetry was influenced by this. His Undertones of War, published in 1928 established his international reputation, a moving and understated study of World War l.

After teaching at Oxford and contributing to the The Times Literary Supplement, he was appointed Professor of English at Hong Kong University in 1953 where he stayed until 1964. He returned to Oxford to take up post as Professor of Poetry at Oxford University from 1966 to 1968. He published two collections of poetry in 1930 and 1040. Poems of Many Years appeared in 1957. One important outcome of his research work was the discovery and publication of unprinted poems by the 19th-century peasant-poet John Clare.