Empson, William

views updated May 29 2018

Empson, William (1906–84) English poet and critic. He expanded the ideas of I. A. Richards in the Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930). Empson wrote detailed analyses of specific texts, a technique that became known as the ‘New Criticism’. His other critical works include The Structure of Complex Words (1951) and Milton's God (1961).