Richard Church

Richard Church (1893-1972). Portrait by William Shackleton (1872-1933). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Richard Thomas Church CBE (26 March 1893 - 4 March 1972) was an English poet and literary critic, who also wrote novels, verse plays, and 3 well-received volumes of autobiography.

Life

Church was born in London, and went to school in Dulwich.

He worked as a civil servant, leaving in 1933 to write full-time; he became a journalist and reviewer. His earliest poetry appeared in Robert Blatchford's Clarion, and he contributed verse to periodicals for the rest of his life.

His initial post as a literary editor was with the New Leader, the organ of the Independent Labour Party. He was director of the Oxford Festival of Spoken Poetry during the 1930s. His much-anthologised World War I poem "Mud" originally appeared in Life and Letters, January 1935.

Mystical Experience

While young, Church had a mystical experience at a convalescent home, which he recounted in his autobiography, 'Over the Bridge', and which was also recounted by British occultist writer Colin Wilson. Looking out of some French windows, Church saw a gardener chopping down a dead tree. What struck Church after a while was that the sight of the axe hitting the tree and the sound of the axe hitting the tree were not synchronised. The sound was delayed. Initially he did not believe his own powers of perception, but after concentrating his vision and hearing, he came to the conclusion that he was experiencing an error in the laws of physics. He came to the conclusion - which would remain with him for the rest of his life - that "time and space are not absolute. Their power was not law." He experienced an incredible freedom in this epiphany.

But for now I was free. Since time and space were deceivers, openly contradicting each other, and at best offering a compromise in place of law (…) I looked down at my wrists and saw the transparent flesh, the bird-bones, the channels of blue beneath the skin. (…) It could not possibly outweigh the solid earth under my feet, where I and the rest of duped mankind walked with such docility.

After this epiphany another soon followed. From where he stood he sensed that "(...) my limbs and trunk were lighter than they seemed, and that I had only to reduce them by an act of will, perhaps by a mere change of physical mechanics, to command them off the ground, out of the tyranny of gravitation":

It was no surprise to me that I left the ground, and glided about the room (which was empty) some twelve or eighteen inches above the parquet floor. At first I was afraid of collapsing, of tumbling and hurting myself. But I had only to draw in a deep breath, and to command the air through the heavy portions of my anatomy, watching in flow and dilute the solid bone and flesh through the helpful chemistry of the blood, this new, released and knowledgable blood, and I soared higher, half-way to the ceiling."

Recognition

Novelist Howard Spring described Over the Bridge (1955), the 1st volume of Church's autobiography, as "the loveliest autobiography written in our time," pointing out that the writer had "found life full of enchantment, and how not the least of its enchantments was its challenge." The 2nd volume, The Golden Sovereign, appeared in 1957.

Recognition

Over the Bridge, Volume I of Church's autobiography, was awarded the Sunday Times Prize for Literature.

In 1957 Church was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

Publications

Poetry

• The Flood of Life, and other poems. London: A.C. Fitfield, 1917.
• Hurricane, and other poems. London: Selwyn & Blount, 1919.
• Philip, and other poems. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell, 1923.
• The Portrait of the Abbot: A story in verse. London: Ernest Benn, 1926.
• Mood Without Measure. London: [[Faber & Faber}Faber & Gwyer]], 1927.
• The Dream, and other poems. London: Ernest Benn, 1927.
• Theme with Variations. London: Ernest Benn, 1928.
• Mary Shelley. London: Gerald Howe, 1928; New York: Viking, 1928.
• The Glance Backward: New poems. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1930.
• News from the Mountain. London: Dent, 1932.
• Twelve Noon. London: Dent, 1936.
• The Solitary Man, and other poems. London: Dent, 1941.
• Twentieth-Century Psalter. London: Dent, 1943.
• The Lamp: A poem. London: Dent, 1946.
• Collected Poems. London: J.M. Dent, 1948; New York: AMS Press, 1976.
• Selected Lyrical Poems. London & New York: Staples Press, 1951.
• The Inheritors: Poems, 1948-1955. London, Melbourne, & Toronto: Heinemann, 1957.
• Richard Church. London: Edward Hulton, 1959.
• North of Rome. London: Hutchinson, 1960.
• The Burning Bush: Poems, 1958-1966. London: Heinemann, 1967.
• Twenty-Five Lyrical Poems. London: Heinemann, 1967.

Play

• The Prodigal: A play in verse. London & New York: Staples Press, 1953.

Novels

• Oliver’s Daughter: A tale. London & Toronto: Dent, 1930.
• High Summer. London & Toronto: Dent, 1931; New York: R. Long & R.R. Smith, 1932.
• The Prodigal Father. London: Dent, 1933; New York: John Day, 1933.
• The Apple of Concord: A novel. London: Dent, 1935.
• The Porch. London: Dent, 1937; London: Heinemann, 1961.
• The Stronghold. London: Dent, 1939.
• The Room Within. London: Dent, 1940; London: Heinemann, 1965.
• The Porch / The Stronghold. London: Dent, 1945.
• The Sampler. London: Dent, 1947; London: Heinemann, 1966.
• The Nightingale. London: Hutchinson, 1952.
• The Dangerous Years. London: Hutchinson, 1956; New York: Dutton, 1958.
• The Crab-Apple Tree. London: Heinemann, 1959.
• Prince Albert. London: Heinemann, 1963.
• Little Miss Moffatt: A confession. London: Heinemann, 1969.

Non-fiction

• Calling for a Spade (essays). London: Dent, 1939.
• Plato's Mistake. London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1941.
• Eight for immortality. London: Dent, 1941.
• Green Tide (illustrated by Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe). London: Country Life, 1945.
• Kent. London: Robert Hale, 1948.
• British Authors: A twentieth-century gallery with 53 portraits. London & New York: Longmans Green, 1948; Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1970.
• A window on a hill (essays; illustrated by Robert Bacon). London: Robert Hale, 1951.
• The Growth of the English Novel. London: Methuen, 1951; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1951.
• A Portrait of Canterbury. London: Hutchinson, 1953
  • revised edition (illustrated by John Sergeant). London: Hutchinson, 1968.
• The Royal Parks of London (illustrated by Victor Cooley). London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), 1956.
  • also published as London's Royal Parks: An appreciation. London: HMSO, 1993.
• A Country Window: A round of essays. London: Heinemann, 1958.
• Small moments (essays; illustrated by Joan Hassall). London: Hutchinson, 1957.
• Calm October: Essays. London, Melbourne, & Toronto: Heinemann, 1961.
• The Little Kingdom: A Kentish collection (illustrated by John Ward). London: Hutchinson, 1964.
• A Stroll Before dark: Essays. London: Heinemann, 1965.
• A Look at Tradition. London: English Association / Oxford University Press, 1965.
• London: Flower of cities all. London: Heinemann, 1966; New York: John Day, 1966.
• Speaking Aloud. London: Heinemann, 1968.
• The Wonder of Words. London: Heinemann, 1970.
• A Harvest of mushrooms, and other sporadic essays. London: Heinemann, 1970.
• London in Colour. London: B.T. Batsford, 1971.
• Kent's Contribution. Bath, UK: Adams & Bart, 1972.

Autobiography

• Over the Bridge: An essay in autobiography. London: Heinemann, 1955; New York: Dutton, 1956.
• The Golden Sovereign: A conclusion to 'Over the Bridge'. London: Heinemann, 1957; New York: Dutton, 1957.
• The Voyage Home. London: Heinemann, 1964.

Juvenile

• A Squirrel Called Rufus (illustrated by John Skeaping). London: Dent, 1941.
• The Cave (illustrated by Geoffrey Whittam). London: Heinemann, 1950
  • published in U.S. as Five Boys in a Cave New York: John Day, 1951.
• Dog Toby. A frontier tale (illustrated by Lawrence Irving). London & New York: Hutchinson, 1953.
• Down River. New York: John Day, 1957
  • (illustrated by Lawrence Irving). London: Heinemann, 1958.
• The Bells of Rye. London: Heinemann, 1960; New York: John Day, 1961.
• The White Doe (illustrated by John Ward). London: Heinemann, 1968; New York: John Day, 1969.
• The French Lieutenant: A ghost story. London: Heinemann, 1971; New York: John Day, 1972.

Edited

• Poems of Our Time, 1900-1942 (edited with M.M. Bozman). London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1945.
  • revised & expanded by Edith Sitwell as Poems of Our time, 1900-1960. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1961.
• Percy Bysshe Shelley, Poems (with engravings by John-Buckland Wright). London: Folio Society, 1949.
• Poems for Speaking: An anthology, with an essay on reading aloud. London: Dent, 1950.
• The Spoken Word: A selection from twenty-five years of 'The Listener'. London: Collins, 1955.

"The Shop Girl" by Richard Church Poem animation

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of British poets

External links

Poems

• "Allotments"

Books

• Richard Church at Amazon.com

About

• Richard Church (1893-1972) at Pollinger Ltd.
• Richard Thomas Church at Author and Book Info