Richard Barham Middleton (28 October 1882 – 1 December 1911) was an English poet and author. He is remembered most for his short ghost stories, in particular "The Ghost Ship".[1]
Born in Staines, Middlesex,[2] Middleton was educated at Cranbrook School, Kent. He then worked as a clerk at the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation bank in London from 1901 to 1907. Unhappy with that, he affected a Bohemian life at night – he is mentioned, in disguised terms, in Arthur Ransome's Bohemia in London. He moved out of his parents' house into rooms in Blackfriars and joined the New Bohemians, a club where he acquired literary contacts, including Arthur Machen, Louis McQuilland (1880–1946) and Christopher Wilson.
Middleton became an editor at Vanity Fair under Edgar Jepson, where he confided to his fellow editor Frank Harris that he really wanted to make a living as a poet. Shortly afterwards, Harris published Middleton's poem "The Bathing Boy":[3]
I saw him standing idly on the brim Of the quick river, in his beauty clad, So fair he was that Nature looked at him And touched him with her sunbeams here and there So that his cool flesh sparkled, and his hair Blazed like a crown above the naked lad.
And so I wept; I have seen lovely things, Maidens and stars and roses all a-nod In moonlit seas, but Love without his wings Set in the azure of an August sky, Was all too fair for my mortality, And so I wept to see the little god.
Till with a sudden grace of silver skin And golden lock he dived, his song of joy Broke with the bubbles as he bore them in; And lo, the fear of night was on that place, Till decked with new-found gems and flushed of face He rose again, a laughing, choking boy.
Middleton suffered from severe depression, then termed melancholia. He spent his last nine months in Brussels, where in December 1911, at age 29, he took his life by poisoning himself with chloroform, which had been prescribed as a remedy for his condition.[5] His literary reputation was sustained by Edgar Jepson and Arthur Machen, the latter in an introduction to Middleton's collection The Ghost Ship and Other Stories,[6] and later by John Gawsworth. His stories appeared in several anthologies.
An encounter with Middleton is said to have persuaded the young Raymond Chandler to postpone his career as a writer. Chandler wrote, "Middleton struck me as having far more talent than I was ever likely to possess; and if he couldn't make a go of it, it wasn't very likely that I could."[7]
richard, barham, middleton, october, 1882, december, 1911, english, poet, author, remembered, most, short, ghost, stories, particular, ghost, ship, 1909, contents, biography, works, references, sources, external, linksbiography, editborn, staines, middlesex, m. Richard Barham Middleton 28 October 1882 1 December 1911 was an English poet and author He is remembered most for his short ghost stories in particular The Ghost Ship 1 Richard Barham Middleton c 1909 Contents 1 Biography 2 Works 3 References 4 Sources 5 External linksBiography editBorn in Staines Middlesex 2 Middleton was educated at Cranbrook School Kent He then worked as a clerk at the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation bank in London from 1901 to 1907 Unhappy with that he affected a Bohemian life at night he is mentioned in disguised terms in Arthur Ransome s Bohemia in London He moved out of his parents house into rooms in Blackfriars and joined the New Bohemians a club where he acquired literary contacts including Arthur Machen Louis McQuilland 1880 1946 and Christopher Wilson Middleton became an editor at Vanity Fair under Edgar Jepson where he confided to his fellow editor Frank Harris that he really wanted to make a living as a poet Shortly afterwards Harris published Middleton s poem The Bathing Boy 3 I saw him standing idly on the brim Of the quick river in his beauty clad So fair he was that Nature looked at him And touched him with her sunbeams here and there So that his cool flesh sparkled and his hair Blazed like a crown above the naked lad And so I wept I have seen lovely things Maidens and stars and roses all a nod In moonlit seas but Love without his wings Set in the azure of an August sky Was all too fair for my mortality And so I wept to see the little god Till with a sudden grace of silver skin And golden lock he dived his song of joy Broke with the bubbles as he bore them in And lo the fear of night was on that place Till decked with new found gems and flushed of face He rose again a laughing choking boy His work was also published by Austin Harrison in The English Review and he wrote book reviews for The Academy 4 Middleton suffered from severe depression then termed melancholia He spent his last nine months in Brussels where in December 1911 at age 29 he took his life by poisoning himself with chloroform which had been prescribed as a remedy for his condition 5 His literary reputation was sustained by Edgar Jepson and Arthur Machen the latter in an introduction to Middleton s collection The Ghost Ship and Other Stories 6 and later by John Gawsworth His stories appeared in several anthologies An encounter with Middleton is said to have persuaded the young Raymond Chandler to postpone his career as a writer Chandler wrote Middleton struck me as having far more talent than I was ever likely to possess and if he couldn t make a go of it it wasn t very likely that I could 7 Works editPoems and Songs 1912 Poems and Songs Second Series 1912 The Day Before Yesterday essays 1912 The Ghost Ship and Other Stories 1912 Monologues 1913 Queen Melanie and the Woodboy novel 1931 The Pantomime Man stories 1933 Richard Middleton poems 1937 Richards PressReferences edit Darrell Schweitzer Richard Middleton Beauty Sadness and Terror in Darrell Schweitzer ed Discovering Classic Horror Fiction I Mercer Island WA Starmont 1992 ISBN 1 55742 084 X pp 34 40 Hellnotes Retrieved 22 October 2016 Frank Harris 1915 Contemporary Portraits Mitchell Kennerley New York Henry Savage 1922 Richard Middleton The Man And His Work Cecil Palmer London Twentieth Century Literary Criticism c 1995 Gale Cengage Mark Valentine Arthur Machen Seren 1995 ISBN 185411123X p 79 Raymond Chandler Raymond Chandler Speaking Dorothy Gardiner Kathrine Sorley Walker ed p 24 Houghton Mifflin Company 1962 ISBN 978 0 520 20835 3 Sources editRichard Middleton s Letters to Henry Savage 1929 Mandrake Press edited by Henry Savage Henry Savage Richard Middleton The Man And His Work 1922 London Cecil Palmer External links editWorks by Richard Middleton at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Richard Barham Middleton at Internet Archive Works by Richard Barham Middleton at LibriVox public domain audiobooks nbsp Stephen Wayne Foster A Poet s Death Retrieved 22 October 2016 Richard Middleton at Library of Congress with 9 library catalogue records Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Richard Barham Middleton amp oldid 1217870957, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
