Helen Parry Eden (1885 – 19 December 1960) was an English poet. She is credited with making popular in English the phrase "

bread and circuses "Bread and circuses" (or "bread and games"; from Latin: ''panem et circenses'') is a metonymic phrase referring to superficial appeasement. It is attributed to Juvenal (''Satires'', Satire X), a Roman poet active in the late first and early seco ...

Life

She was born Helen Parry, the daughter of

Edward Abbott Parry Sir Edward Abbott Parry (2 October 1863 – 1 December 1943) was a British judge and dramatist. Parry was born in London into a prominent Welsh family, the second son of barrister John Humffreys Parry and grandson of antiquary John Humffreys Pa ...

. She was educated at

Roedean School Roedean () is a private boarding school governed by royal charter on the outskirts of Brighton, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1885 by three sisters to educate wealthy daughters and heiresses of aristocracy and industrial elites of the 19t ...

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, and King's College Art School, where she studied 1903–5 under

Byam Shaw John Byam Liston Shaw (13 November 1872 – 26 January 1919), commonly known as Byam Shaw, was a British painter, illustrator, designer and teacher. He is not to be confused with his sons, Glen Byam Shaw, actor and theatre director, and James ...

and

Vicat Cole Vicat Cole is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *George Vicat Cole (1833–1893), English artist *Rex Vicat Cole Reginald ("Rex") George Vicat Cole (1870–1940) was an English landscape painter. Life Vicat Cole was the son ...

. In 1907 she married the artist

Denis Eden William Denis Eden (1878–1949) was a Liverpool-born artist whose lively and idiosyncratic paintings were in a ‘neo-Pre-Raphaelite’ style. He trained at the St John's Wood Art School and the Royal Academy Schools, and went on to exhibit regu ...

, and they became Catholic converts in 1909. They had a son and two daughters.

Works

Helen Parry Eden published: *''Bread and Circuses'' (1914) *''Coal and Candlelight'' (1918) *''The Rhyme of the Servants of Mary'' (1919) *''A String of Sapphires'' (1921) *''Whistles of Silver'' (1933) *''Poems and Verses'' (1943).

Notes

External links

* * 1885 births 1960 deaths English poets People educated at Roedean School, East Sussex {{UK-poet-stub