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Sir Archibald Thomas Strong (30 December 1876 – 2 September 1930) was an Australian scholar and poet. V. A. Edgeloe, 'Strong, Sir Archibald Thomas (1876–1930)', '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 12, MUP, 1990, pp. 124–125. Retrieved 30 March 2010


Early life

Strong was born at
South Yarra South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Stonnington local government areas. South Yarra recorded a popu ...
,
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...
, the son of Herbert Strong, professor of classics at the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...
, and his wife Helen Campbell, ''née'' Edmiston. Strong and his family moved to
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, in 1883 when Prof. Herbert Strong became professor of Latin at
University College, Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
. Archibald was educated at
Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It ...
and University College, Liverpool, where he graduated B.A. in 1896 with first-class honours in classics. Strong then went to Magdalen College, Oxford; however, a long illness prevented any possibility of a first in "Greats". Strong graduated in '' Literae Humaniores'' (1900) and spent several months at the
University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the worl ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
, before returning to
read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under th ...
with F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, then a rising barrister, afterwards to become
Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. T ...
of England. Strong became a member of the
Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
, but ill-health caused him in 1901 to return to Australia seeking a warmer climate.


Literary career

Settling again in Melbourne, Strong did some tutoring and lecturing, and published a volume of verse, ''Sonnets and Songs'' (1905). In 1910 Strong was president of the Literature Society of Melbourne and his presidential address, 'Nature in Meredith and Wordsworth', was printed as a pamphlet in that year. Strong was a long-term literary critic for the ''
Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen ...
'' newspaper and in 1911 republished some of his earlier writings for this journal under the title of ''Peradventure, A Book of Essays in Literary Criticism''. Strong was appointed lecturer in English at the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...
in 1912, and brought out a volume of translations, ''The Ballads of Theodore de Banville'' (1913), followed by ''Sonnets of the Empire'' (1915). Strong was president of the Melbourne Shakespeare Society in 1913. When Professor Robert Wallace enlisted in the First AIF in 1916, Strong became acting-professor of English for three years. He was passionately patriotic and, having been rejected for active service, did much war work in addition to carrying on the English school. Some of his work was in the nature of propaganda; a collection of his articles, ''Australia and the War'' (1916) and ''The Story of the Anzacs'', published anonymously at his own expense in aid of
patriotic funds World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, appeared in 1917. From 1919 to 1922 he acted as Chief Film Censor for the Commonwealth government. A small volume of verse, ''Poems'', appeared in 1918. In 1920 he became associate professor in English language and literature, and in the following year the
Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
published his ''A Short History of English Literature'', and ''Three Studies in Shelley'' and an ''Essay on Nature in Wordsworth and Meredith''. In 1922 Strong was appointed the first Jury professor of English language and literature at the
University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on ...
, allowing Professor Henderson to concentrate on History. Strong was ready for his new task, as in addition to his knowledge of the work of his own school he was an excellent classical scholar, familiar with French and German literature, and with some knowledge of Italian and Spanish in the originals. At Adelaide he became a valuable member of the staff, fully convinced of the importance of the humanities in university life. He visited Europe in 1925 and represented
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
at a world conference on adult education held at
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...
in 1929. Strong published his translation of ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English Epic poetry, epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translations of Beo ...
'' into English rhyming verse in 1925.


Late life and legacy

Strong died after a short illness on 2 September 1930. In 1932 ''Four Studies'' by him, edited with a memoir by Robert Cecil Bald and with a portrait frontispiece, was published in a limited edition at Adelaide. Strong never married; he was knighted in 1925. Strong played both
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
and football at Liverpool University; he was also interested in
boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
. Strong was one of the promoters of the original Melbourne repertory theatre and became president of the similar organization at Adelaide. Strong was a good lecturer in English, never losing his enthusiasm for his subject and communicating it to his students. Strong's ''Short History of English Literature'' is an excellent piece of work within the limits of its 200,000 words, sound and interesting. His verse is technically excellent, often no more than strongly felt rhetorical verse, but at times rising into poetry. Strong's translations from
Théodore de Banville Théodore Faullain de Banville (14 March 1823 – 13 March 1891) was a French poet and writer. His work was influential on the Symbolist movement in French literature in the late 19th century. Biography Banville was born in Moulins in Allier, ...
and ''Beowulf'' were both successful.


References


External links


Four studies / by Sir Archibald Strong ; edited with a memoir by R.C. Bald
at the National Library of Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Archibald 1876 births 1930 deaths University of Melbourne faculty Australian poets Translators from Old English Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Knights Bachelor Australian literary critics University of Adelaide faculty Australian people of English descent People from South Yarra, Victoria