Spender, Sir Stephen Harold

views updated May 23 2018

Spender, Sir Stephen Harold (1909–95) English poet. Spender was a member of the Auden circle in the 1930s, and his autobiography, World within World (1951), is a powerful evocation of the generation. His best verse, such as “I Think Continually of Those Who Were Truly Great”, is a combination of lyricism and political commitment. His Collected Poems 1928–1985 appeared in 1985. Spender was knighted in 1983.