Alfred Denis Godley (22 January 1856 – 27 June 1925) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

classical scholar and author of humorous poems. Godley was born in Ashfield,

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

, to Rev James Godley and his wife Eliza La Touche. James was the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

Rector of Ashfield from 1849 to 1861, then Rector of Lavey. From 1866 to 1904 he served as Rector of Carrigallen,

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...

. He was educated at Harrow and

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

, Oxford and was elected to a Fellowship at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

in 1883. From 1910 to 1920, A. D. Godley was Public Orator at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, a post that involved composing citations in Latin for the recipients of honorary degrees. One of these was for

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

who received an Honorary D. Litt. in 1920, and whose treatment of rural themes Godley compared to

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

. He is known for his humorous verse, including macaronic pieces such as '' The Motor Bus'', in which the English phrase "motor bus" is declined as though it were Latin. He was a contributor to several periodicals, especially ''

The Oxford Magazine ''The Oxford Magazine'' is a review magazine and newspaper published in Oxford, England.''The Oxford Magaz ...

'', which he edited from 1890, and published several collections of his poems. Godley's published works include:
''Verses to Order''
(1892)
''Aspects of Modern Oxford''
(1894)
''Socrates and Athenian Society in His Day''
(1896)
''Lyra Frivola''
(1899)
''Second Strings''
(1902)
''Oxford in the Eighteenth Century''
(1908)
''The Casual Ward''
(1912) * ''Reliquiae A. D. Godley'' (1926) He also published translations of

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

(1921) and

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

's ''Odes'' (1898). Godley was a first-cousin of The 1st Baron Kilbracken, who, as Sir Arthur Godley, was the long-serving Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India. He was also an active mountaineer and the vice-president of the

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

in 1924.

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* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Godley, A.D. Irish classical scholars 1856 births 1925 deaths A.D. Scholars and academics from County Leitrim Irish male poets Scholars and academics from County Cavan People from Carrigallen People educated at Harrow School Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford