The New Apocalyptics were a poetry grouping in the United Kingdom in the 1940s, taking their name from the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

''The New Apocalypse'' (

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

), which was edited by J. F. Hendry (1912–1986) and Henry Treece. There followed the further anthologies ''The White Horseman'' (

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

) and ''The Crown and Sickle'' (

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

). Their reaction against the political realism of much of the Thirties poetry drew for support upon D. H. Lawrence (''Apocalypse'', 1931),

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

, myth, and

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

Scottish connection

Others closely associated were the Scottish (as Hendry was) poets G. S. Fraser and

Norman MacCaig Norman Alexander MacCaig (14 November 1910 – 23 January 1996) was a Scottish poet and teacher. His poetry, in modern English, is known for its humour, simplicity of language and great popularity. Life Norman Alexander MacCaig was born at 15 E ...

, although the latter saw his work from ''Riding Lights'' (1955) onwards as part of "the long haul towards lucidity" after his Apocalyptic start.I. Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (1995) p. 582 There was quite an overlap with the '' Scottish Renaissance'' group of writers, though not necessarily by publication in London. Others sometimes mentioned in this connection include Ruthven Todd, Tom Scott,

Hamish Henderson (James) Hamish Scott Henderson (11 November 1919 – 9 March 2002) was a Scotland, Scottish poet, songwriter, communist, intellectual and soldier. Henderson was a catalyst for the folk revival in Scotland. He was also an accomplished folk s ...

, Maurice Lindsay, Edwin Morgan, Burns Singer, and William Montgomerie. This grouping was fairly represented in '' Modern Scottish Poetry'' (

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

). Welsh and Irish poets were also prominent.

Others

The other poets in the three anthologies were Ian Bancroft,

Alex Comfort Alexander Comfort (10 February 1920 – 26 March 2000) was a British scientist and physician, writer and activist, known best for his nonfiction sex manual, '' The Joy of Sex'' (1972). He was a poet and author of both fiction and nonficti ...

, Dorian Cooke, John Gallen, Wrey Gardiner, Robert Greacen, Robert Herring, Seán Jennett,

Nicholas Moore Nicholas Moore (16 November 1918 – 26 January 1986) was an English poet, associated with the New Apocalyptics in the 1940s, whose reputation stood as high as Dylan Thomas’s. He later dropped out of the literary world. Biography Moore wa ...

, Philip O'Connor,

Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. He appeared in the '' Carry On'' ...

, Gervase Stewart,

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

Vernon Watkins Vernon Phillips Watkins (27 June 1906 – 8 October 1967) was a Welsh poet and translator. His headmaster at Repton was Geoffrey Fisher, who became Archbishop of Canterbury. Despite his parents being Nonconformists, Watkins' school experience ...

, and Peter Wells.

New Romantics

A broader movement of New Romantics has been postulated to cover many of the British poets between the Auden group of the 1930s and The Movement. This is much more debatable; it may be something of a flag of convenience for those such as the followers of

and George Barker whose style marked them off, or on the other hand a tag for those addressed polemically and retrospectively by the

Robert Conquest George Robert Acworth Conquest (15 July 19173 August 2015) was a British and American historian, poet, novelist, and propagandist. He was briefly a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain but later wrote several books condemning commun ...

introduction to the ''New Lines'' anthology. The phrase ''New Romantics'' was used at the time, though, for example by Henry Treece; it is usually attributed to

Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine ''Horizon (British magazine), Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote ''Enemies of Pro ...

Effects of the times

Wartime conditions had posed great editorial difficulties, and the London operations of the publishers such as Tambimuttu, Grey Walls Press and Fortune Press had been stopgaps.

Kenneth Rexroth Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth (December 22, 1905 – June 6, 1982) was an American poet, translator, and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement. Althoug ...

produced a post-war anthology covering the period, but it had little circulation in the UK. Another view was that from John Lehmann's ''New Writing''.

Retrospect from the 1950s

By 1953

John Heath-Stubbs John Francis Alexander Heath-Stubbs (9 July 1918 – 26 December 2006) was an English poet and translator. He is known for verse influenced by classical myths, and for a long Arthurian poem, "Artorius" (1972). Biography and works Heath-Stubbs ...

could write of the New Romantics as a movement of the past, though acutely singling out W. S. Graham under the heading of in it, though not of it. This was in the introduction to an anthology ''Images of Tomorrow'', which also points out that the debate over the 'romanticism' was also a fissure within the Christian poets over style—indeed harking back to the religious and psychological depths of ''

apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...

''.

References

External links

Andrew Duncan's notes on 1940s British poets
{{schools of poetry British literary movements British poetry