Empson, Sir William

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | 700+ words | Copyright

Empson, Sir William (1906–84), poet and critic, became professor of English at Sheffield. He published two volumes of verse, Poems (1935) and The Gathering Storm (1940); Collected Poems (revised) appeared in 1955. His criticism includes Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930), Some Versions of Pastoral (1935), The Structure of Complex Words (1951), and Milton's God (1961). Empson's poetry makes use of analytical argument and imagery drawn from modern physics and mathematics; a technical virtuoso, he employed metaphysical conceits and linguistic, metrical, and syntactical complexities. Using Biography (1984), a posthumous collection of essays, 1958–82, constitutes a spirited attack on the New Criticism's neglect of the biographical element in literary interpretation.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Empson, Sir William." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Empson, Sir William." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-EmpsonSirWilliam.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Empson, Sir William." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-EmpsonSirWilliam.html

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