Amy Key Clarke (21 December 1892 – 20 June 1980)Obituary, The ''Times'', 23 June 1980 was an English mystical poet and writer, and a teacher at

The Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College (CLC) is a private boarding and day school for girls aged 11 or older in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school was established in 1853 to provide "a sound academic education for girls". It is also a member ...

Early life and education

Clarke was born at 121

Elgin Crescent Elgin Crescent is a street in Notting Hill, London, England. It runs west from Portobello Road, crosses Ladbroke Grove and at its south-western end joins Clarendon Road. The section between Portobello Road and Kensington Park Road is formed o ...

, Kensington,

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to Henry Clarke, a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

and tutor, and his wife Amy (''née'' Key, also known as Mrs. Henry Clarke), a writer and first

headmistress A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

Truro High School Truro High School for Girls is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day and boarding school for girls in Truro, Cornwall. The school consists of a girls-only prep school, senior school and sixth form. It is a member of the Girls' Sc ...

. She was educated at

St Paul's Girls' School St Paul's Girls' School is a private day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in west London, England. The school is included in The Schools Index as one of the world's 150 best private schools and among top ...

and at

where she was a student at St Hilda’s House from 1905 to 1906 – the senior house of the college.

Clarke and Florence Cunningham

In 1917 Clarke stayed for seven weeks with Florence Cunningham (1871–1950, granddaughter of writer Peter Cunningham) at her home in

Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

. Florence was a mystic who believed herself to be a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

whom the voices she heard addressed as "Mary": She compared herself to

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...

and The

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

, but it should be said that she was later, for a short period, committed to the care of the

Holloway Sanatorium Holloway Sanatorium was an institution for the treatment of those suffering temporary mental illness, situated on of aesthetically landscaped grounds near Virginia Water in Surrey, England, about south-west of Charing Cross. Its largest buildin ...

Virginia Water Virginia Water is a commuter village in the Borough of Runnymede in northern Surrey, England. It is home to the Wentworth Estate and the Wentworth Club. The area has much woodland and occupies a large minority of the Runnymede district. Its na ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. Florence's daughter was Edith Cunningham, then 18, whom Amy had met at

. Edith was attracted to Amy because of her "poetic nature", and it was for this reason that Edith introduced her to her mother, thinking that Amy would be interested in her newly received "enlightenment". Clarke was enamoured of the spirituality in the poems of Florence, and wrote to Florence from Newnham College saying that she was inspired and wanted to come and stay with her. This announcement was a surprise, but Cunningham did not refuse her because she was a friend of her daughter. Clarke stayed for 7 weeks, and during that time she would speak to Cunningham while in a state of inspiration for one or two hours at a time, only in the presence of her husband and daughter. Clarke related that miracles happened which were also witnessed by her family during her sojourn in order to try to demonstrate that she was under the control of higher powers. Clarke left as suddenly as she came, in an agreeable way: She wrote to Florence on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

, 1917, addressing her as "My dear Mother."

Career

That year, Clarke wrote a mystical poem "Vision of Him" which the same year was published in the ''Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse''. After reading

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

she returned in 1924 to teach as senior classical mistress, becoming successively head of classics, head of upper college, and director of university entrants. She was away from 1939 to 1947, and she returned as house mistress of Cheltenham's St. Hilda’s House until 1948. In 1950 she wrote on mystical religious philosophy, ''The Universal Character of Christianity''. She finally

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

from school administrative work in 1953.Archivist, The Cheltenham Ladies' College Clarke published a scholarly edition of a commentary on Claudian's ''De Raptu Proserpine'' by Geoffrey of Vitry, and wrote two histories of the

Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College (CLC) is a private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding and day school for girls aged 11 or older in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school was established in 1853 to provide "a sound academic edu ...

and a history of

Truro High School for Girls Truro High School for Girls is a private day and boarding school for girls in Truro, Cornwall. The school consists of a girls-only prep school, senior school and sixth form. It is a member of the Girls' Schools Association. History The school ...

Works

*''The Universal Character of Christianity''. London: Faber and Faber, 1950 *''A History of the Cheltenham Ladies' College, 1853-1953.'' London: Faber and Faber, 1953 *''The Commentary of Geoffrey of Vitry on Claudian'' De raptu Proserpinae: Transcribed and edited by A.K. Clarke and P.M.Giles, with an introduction and notes by A.K. Clarke (Leiden, Köln: E. J. Brill, 1973) *''A History of the Cheltenham Ladies' College, 1853-1979.'' Suffolk: John Catt, 1979 *''The Story of Truro High School, the Benson Foundation: with a memoir of its first headmistress Amy Key''. 1980

Death

Clarke died at the age of 87 in 1980. She was living at the time in St. Ninian's, Victoria Street,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

References

External links

"Vision of Him"
by Amy K. Clarke
More about Nicholson, D. H. S. and Lee, A. H. E., eds., "The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Amy 1892 births 1980 deaths Schoolteachers from Gloucestershire English women poets People educated at St Paul's Girls' School People from Notting Hill Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Cambridge 20th-century English poets 20th-century English women writers