- In full:
- Sir William Empson
- Died:
- April 15, 1984, London (aged 77)
- Movement / Style:
- New Criticism
- Subjects Of Study:
- poetry
William Empson
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Who was William Empson?
William Empson (1906ā1984) was a highly influential English critic and poet of the 20th century. He is known for his rational, metaphysical poetry and immense influence on 20th-century literary criticism. Empson's education included degrees in mathematics and English literature from Magdalene College, Cambridge.
His notable works include Poems (1935), The Gathering Storm (1940), and Collected Poems (1949; rev. ed. 1955). His critical work, Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930), suggested that the uncertainty and overlap of meanings in the use of a word could enrich poetry. He taught English literature at the University of Tokyo and Peking National University and was professor of English literature at Sheffield University from 1953 to 1971. Empson was knighted in 1979.
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What types of writing was William Empson known for?
William Empson was a British critic and poet known for his significant influence on 20th-century literary criticism and his rational, metaphysical poetry. His poetry, often reflecting his science and technology knowledge, offered a largely pessimistic view of humanity. His collections include Poems (1935), The Gathering Storm (1940), and Collected Poems (1949).
Empson's critical work includes Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930), a close examination of poetic texts that suggests uncertainty and overlapping meanings enrich poetry. He also wrote Some Versions of Pastoral (1935) and The Structure of Complex Words (1951), adding social, political, and psychological concerns to his linguistic focus. His later criticism included uncollected essays and Miltonās God (1961), which directs his rationalism against a positive view of the Christian God.
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What is William Empson famous for in literary criticism?
William Empson is celebrated for his significant influence on 20th-century literary criticism and his unique, metaphysical poetry. His critical work Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930) was highly influential and provided a close examination of poetic texts. Empson argued that the ambiguity and overlap of meanings in words could enrich poetry, which helped lay the foundation for the New Criticism school of literary theory. In his later works, Empson expanded his primarily linguistic focus to include social, political, and psychological concerns.
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How did Empsonās book 'Seven Types of Ambiguity' change how people studied poetry?
William Empson's Seven Types of Ambiguity, published in 1930, significantly impacted the study of poetry by suggesting that ambiguity and the overlap of meanings in words could enrich poetry. Empson's work, a close examination of poetic texts, identifies linguistic properties and multiple coherent meanings that enhance a reader's appreciation. This approach helped form the foundation for the New Criticism. His analysis of cognitive and tonal complexities in poetry highlights how these elements shape the reader's emotional response, marking a shift in literary theory.
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What are some features of Empson's poetry style?
William Empson was a British critic and poet known for his significant influence on 20th-century literary criticism. His poetry, significantly influenced by John Donne, often incorporates metaphors from science and technology to express a generally pessimistic view of humanity. Empson's poems, such as those in Poems (1935), are personal, elliptical, and complex, and he offered explanatory notes to aid understanding. His work is notable for its rational and metaphysical approach, setting it apart from the politically charged literature of the 1930s. Later collections included The Gathering Storm (1940) and Collected Poems (1949; rev. ed. 1955).
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How did William Empson influence modern literary criticism and poetry?
William Empson significantly influenced 20th-century literary criticism and poetry through his rational and metaphysical approach. His critical work, Seven Types of Ambiguity, published in 1930, became a foundation for the New Criticism school of literary theory. Empson suggested that the ambiguity and overlap of meanings in poetry enrich the reader's appreciation, enhancing the understanding of a poem by isolating its linguistic properties. His work examined poetic texts closely, focusing on how multiple meanings of words and references contribute to the reader's emotional response. Empson's other works include Some Versions of Pastoral and The Structure of Complex Words.
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William Empson (born September 27, 1906, Hawdon, Yorkshire, Englandādied April 15, 1984, London) was an English critic and poet known for his immense influence on 20th-century literary criticism and for his rational, metaphysical poetry.
The youngest of five children, Empson was born to Arthur Reginald Empson and Laura Empson, in East Riding of Yorkshire, a county in northeastern England. Empson was educated at Winchester College and at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He earned degrees in mathematics and in English literature, which he studied under English critic and poetI.A. Richards. Empsonās first poems were published during this time. Several of the verses published in Empsonās Poems (1935) also were written while he was an undergraduate and reflect his knowledge of the sciences and technology, which he used as metaphors in his largely pessimistic assessment of the human lot. Much influenced by John Donne, the poems are personal, politically unconcerned (despite the preoccupation with politics in the 1930s), elliptical, and difficult, even though he provided some explanatory notes. Later collections of his poetry included The Gathering Storm (1940) and Collected Poems (1949; rev. ed. 1955).
Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930; rev. ed. 1953), one of the most influential critical works of the first half of the 20th century, was essentially a close examination of poetic texts. Empsonās special contribution in this work was his suggestion that uncertainty or the overlap of meanings in the use of a word could be an enrichment of poetry rather than a fault, and his book abounds with examples. The book helped lay the foundation for the influential critical school known as the New Criticism, although Empson never allied himself with the New Criticsā attempts to disregard authorial intention. Empson applied his critical method to somewhat longer texts in Some Versions of Pastoral (1935) and further elaborated it in The Structure of Complex Words (1951), where he added attention to social, political, and psychological concerns to his primarily linguistic focus.
From 1931 to 1934 Empson taught English literature at the University of Tokyo, and he subsequently joined the English faculty of Peking National University in China. He was Chinese editor at the British Broadcasting Corporation during World War II and returned to teach at Peking National University from 1947 to 1952. Empson was professor of English literature at Sheffield University from 1953, becoming emeritus in 1971. He was knighted in 1979.
Empsonās later criticism includes many uncollected essays and one book, Miltonās God (1961), in which his extreme rationalism is directed against a positive valuation of the Christian God. This later body of writing concerns itself with biography and textual criticism as well as with issues of interpretation and literary theory more generally.