Poets' Corner Explained

Poets' Corner
Map Type:	London
Established:	1400
Closed:	-->
Location:	Westminster Abbey
Country:	London, England

Poets' Corner is a section of the southern transept of Westminster Abbey in London, where many poets, playwrights, and writers are buried or commemorated.

The first poet interred in Poets' Corner was Geoffrey Chaucer in 1400.^[1] William Shakespeare was commemorated with a monument in 1740, over a century after his death. Over the centuries, a tradition has grown up of interring or memorialising people there in recognition of their contribution to British culture. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the honour is awarded to writers.

In 2009, the founders of the Royal Ballet were commemorated in a memorial floor stone and on 25 September 2010, the writer Elizabeth Gaskell was celebrated with the dedication of a panel in the memorial window.^[2] On 6 December 2011, former Poet Laureate Ted Hughes was commemorated with a floor stone.^[3] On 22 November 2013, the fiftieth anniversary of his death, writer C. S. Lewis was commemorated with a memorial floor stone.^[4] The poet Philip Larkin was commemorated with a floor stone dedicated on 2 December 2016.^{[5] [6] [7]}

History

The first poet interred in Poets' Corner, Geoffrey Chaucer, owed his 1400 burial in the Abbey (in front of St. Benedict's Chapel) more to his position as Clerk of Works of the Palace of Westminster than to his fame as a writer. The erection of his magnificent tomb by Nicholas Brigham in 1556 (to where Chaucer's remains were then transferred) and the nearby burial of Edmund Spenser in 1599 began a tradition that still continues. The area also houses the tombs of several Canons and Deans of the Abbey, as well as the grave of Thomas Parr who, it is said, died at the age of 152 in 1635 after having seen ten sovereigns on the throne.

Burial or commemoration in the Abbey does not always occur at or soon after the time of death. Lord Byron, for example, whose poetry was admired but who maintained a scandalous lifestyle, died in 1824 but was not given a memorial until 1969. Even William Shakespeare, buried at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616, was not honoured with a monument until 1740 when one designed by William Kent was constructed in Poets' Corner (though shortly after Shakespeare's death William Basse had suggested Shakespeare should be buried there). Samuel Horsley, Dean of Westminster in 1796, was said to have tartly refused the request for actress Kitty Clive to be buried in the Abbey:

if we do not draw some line in this theatrical ambition to mortuary fame, we shall soon make Westminster Abbey little better than a Gothic Green Room!^[8]

Not all poets appreciated memorialisation and Samuel Wesley's epitaph for Samuel Butler, who supposedly died in poverty, continued Butler's satiric tone:

Some of those buried in Poets' Corner also had memorials erected to them over or near their grave, either around the time of their death or later. In some cases, such as Joseph Addison, the burial took place elsewhere in Westminster Abbey, with a memorial later erected in Poets' Corner. In some cases a full burial of a body took place, in other, later, cases the body was cremated and the ashes buried. There are also cases where there was support for a particular individual to be buried in Poets' Corner, but the decision was made to bury them elsewhere in the Abbey, such as Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Other notable poets and writers, such as Aphra Behn, are buried elsewhere in the Abbey. At least two of the memorials (both to individuals buried in Poets' Corner – Rowe and Gay) were later moved to a location elsewhere in the Abbey due to the discovery of old paintings on the wall behind them. In 1936 the ashes of the author and poet Rudyard Kipling were interred.

Memorial types

The memorials can take several forms. Some are stone slabs set in the floor with a name and inscription carved on them, while others are more elaborate and carved stone monuments, or hanging stone tablets, or memorial busts. Some are commemorated in groups, such as the joint memorial for the Brontë sisters (commissioned in 1939, but not unveiled until 1947 due to the Second World War), the sixteen First World War poets inscribed on a stone floor slab and unveiled in 1985, and the four founders of the Royal Ballet, commemorated together in 2009.^[9]

The grave of Ben Jonson is not in Poets' Corner, but is in the north aisle of the nave. It has the inscription "O Rare Ben Johnson" (perhaps the original spelling) on the slab above it. It has been suggested that this could be read "Orare Ben Johnson" (pray for Ben Johnson), which would indicate a deathbed return to Catholicism, but the carving shows a distinct space between "O" and "rare".^[10] The fact that he was buried in an upright grave could be an indication of his reduced circumstances at the time of his death^[11] but it has also been suggested that Jonson asked for a grave exactly 18 inches square from the monarch and received an upright grave to fit in the requested space.^[12] As well as the gravestone in the north aisle of the nave, a wall tablet commemorating Jonson was later erected in Poets' Corner.

As floor and wall space began to run out, the decision was taken to install a stained glass memorial window (unveiled in 1994 in memory of Edward Horton Hubbard), and it is here that new names are added in the form of inscribed panes of glass. There is room for 20 names, and currently there are six names on this window, with the latest entry (Elizabeth Gaskell) unveiled on 25 September 2010.^{[13] [14]} The memorial ceremonies often include guest speakers. In 1995, Oscar Wilde was commemorated in the window and those in attendance included Sir John Gielgud and Dame Judi Dench who both read extracts from his work.^[15]

Burials

Image	Name	Born	Died	Age at death	Details of funeral / memorial	Occupation
	Robert Adam	1729	1792	63	Grave & gravestone	Architect
	Isaac Barrow	1630	1677	46	Grave & marble memorial bust on a pedestal by John Bushnell^[16]	Mathematician
	Francis Beaumont	1584	1616	31–32	Grave is unmarked. Name is inscribed on the Abraham Cowley gravestone.^[17]	Playwright
...	John Beaumont	1583	1627	43–44	Unmarked grave	Poet
...	William Benson	unknown	1549	unknown	Grave & memorial stone^[18]	Abbot of Westminster
	Mary Eleanor Bowes	1749	1800	51	Grave & gravestone. Reported by some to have been buried in a court dress, with all the accessories necessary for a Royal audience, plus a small silver trumpet, and by others as in her bridal dress.^[19]	Poet and playwright
	Robert Browning	1812	1889	77	Browning's grave & gravestone is immediately adjacent to that of Alfred, Lord Tennyson^[20]	Poet and playwright
	Richard Busby	1606	1695	88–89	Busby is buried beneath the pavement of the Choir while his memorial, by the sculptor Francis Bird, is located in the South Transept.^[21]	Headmaster
	William Camden	1551	1623	72	Marble memorial bust with surround^[22]	Antiquarian and historian
	Thomas Campbell	1777	1844	66	Funeral 3 July 1844.;^[23] Statue by William Calder Marshall erected 1848^[24]	Poet
	Henry Francis Cary	1772	1844	72	Funeral 14 August 1844.^[25] Grave & gravestone in Poets' Corner^[26]	Author and translator
	Isaac Casaubon	1559	1614	55	Wall monument in black & white marble by sculptor Nicholas Stone^[27]	Classical scholar
	William Chambers	1723	1796	75	Grave & gravestone in South Transept^[28]	Architect
	Geoffrey Chaucer	c. 1343	1400	56–57	Actual grave site is now unmarked but his name is inscribed on the Cowley gravestone. A grey Purbeck marble memorial was erected in 1556.^[29]	Author and poet
	Abraham Cowley	1618	1667	48–49	White marble monument, of an urn on a pedestal, by John Bushnell^[30] Large black marble gravestone to which several further names have been added.	Poet
	Richard Cumberland	1732	1811	79	Grave & gravestone in South Transept^[31]	Playwright
	William Davenant	1606	1668	62	Grave & gravestone in South Transept^[32]	Poet and playwright
	John Denham	1614 or 1615	1669	63–65	Grave is unmarked. Name is inscribed on the Abraham Cowley gravestone.^[33]	Poet
	Charles Dickens	1812	1870	58	Dickens's will did not dictate his place of burial, but stipulated that there be no grand funeral ceremony. He was therefore given a secret early-morning funeral in the Abbey, 14 June 1870.^[34]	Author
	Michael Drayton	1563	1631	67–68	Died in London. Memorial bust & surround in alabaster & black marble placed by the Countess of Dorset, with lines attributed to Ben Jonson.^[35]	Poet
	John Dryden	1631	1700	68	Grave is unmarked. Name is inscribed on the Cowley gravestone. Memorial bust on pedestal by Peter Scheemakers was erected in 1731, replacing an earlier memorial.^[36]	Poet and playwright
...	Adam Fox	1888	1977	93–94	Grave & gravestone in South Transept^[37]	Oxford Professor of Poetry Canon of Westminster Abbey
	David Garrick	1717	1779	61	Grave plus monument in white and grey marble by Henry Webber on the west wall of Poets' Corner^[38]	Actor
	John Gay	1685	1732	47	Buried in South Transept, with a monument by John Michael Rysbrack which is now in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries^[39]	Poet and playwright
	William Gifford	1756	1826	70	Gifford wanted to be buried in South Audley Chapel, "but for the pressing request of his grateful executor [John Ireland, Dean of Westminster], who was anxious that Gifford's remains should be mingled with the great and good in Poets' Corner, Westminster-abbey."^[40] | Poet and editor|-| | George Grote| 1794| 1871| 76| Marble bust by Charles Bacon, 1873^[41] | Historian|-| | Richard Hakluyt| c.1552| 1616| 63–64| Unmarked grave thought to be in the South Transept^[42] | Author|-| | George Frideric Handel| 1685| 1759| 74| Life-size sculpture by Louis-François Roubiliac with musical scores and instruments represented.^[43] ^[44] | Composer|-| | Thomas Hardy| 1840| 1928| 87| Hardy's funeral, on 16 January 1928, was controversial. Hardy had wanted to be buried at Stinsford in the grave of his first wife, Emma. His executor, Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell, was adamant that Hardy warranted interment in the Poets' Corner. A compromise saw his heart buried at Stinsford, and his ashes at the Abbey.| Author and poet|-| | John Henderson| 1747| 1785| 38| Buried at the foot of the grave of David Garrick in the south transept. The inscription has now worn away but it read: "Underneath this stone are interr'd the remains of John Henderson who died the 25th day of Novembr. 1785 aged 38 years".^[45] | Actor|-| | Henry Irving| 1838| 1905| 67| Grave & gravestone^[46] | Actor|-| | Samuel Johnson| 1709| 1784| 75| Bust by Joseph Nollekens located above Johnson's grave^[47] | Author, poet and lexicographer|-| | Rudyard Kipling| 1865| 1936| 70| Grave & gravestone^[48] | Author and poet|-| ...| Nicholas Litlyngton| before 1315| 1386| 70+| Grave & memorial stone^[49] | Abbot of Westminster|-| | Thomas Macaulay| 1800| 1859| 59| Public funeral, 9 January 1860, with a bust by the sculptor George Burnard erected in 1866.^[50] ^[51] | Poet and historian|-| | James Macpherson| 1736| 1796| 59| Grave & gravestone^[52] | Author and poet|-| | John Masefield| 1878| 1967| 88| According to his wishes, was cremated and his ashes placed in Poets' Corner.| Poet and author|-| ...| Robert Moray| 1608/9| 1673| 63–65| Grave is unmarked. Name is inscribed on the Cowley gravestone.| Statesman and natural philosopher|-| | Gilbert Murray| 1866| 1957| 91| Grave & gravestone^[53] | Scholar and translator|-| | Laurence, Lord Olivier| 1907| 1989| 82| Grave & memorial stone^[54] | Actor|-| | Old Tom Parr| 1483| 1635| 152| Grave & gravestone^[55] | Supposedly long-lived Englishman|-| | Matthew Prior| 1664| 1721| 57| Grave is unmarked. Name is inscribed on the Cowley gravestone. Memorial, designed by James Gibbs, with a bust by Antoine Coysevox and figures by John Michael Rysbrack erected by 1726.^[56] | Poet and diplomat|-| | Nicholas Rowe| 1674| 1718| 44| Buried in South Transept, with a monument by John Michael Rysbrack which is now in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries^[57] | Playwright and poet|-| | Charles de Saint-Évremond| 1610| 1703| 93| Grave is unmarked. Name is inscribed on the Cowley gravestone. Memorial was also erected.| Essayist and literary critic|-| | Richard Brinsley Sheridan| 1751| 1816| 64| Grave & gravestone^[58] | Playwright and poet|-| | Robert South| 1634| 1716| 81| Monument by Francis Bird^[59] | Theologian and poet|-| | Edmund Spenser| c. 1552| 1599| 46–47| Marble memorial erected in 1620 on south wall of Poets' Corner, fully restored 1778^[60] | Poet|-| ...| Robert Stapylton| c.1607| 1669| 61–62| Unmarked grave in the South Transept^[61] | Playwright|-| ...| Mary Steele| 1678| 1718| 40| Grave and gravestone in South Transept^[62] | Letter writer|-| | Alfred, Lord Tennyson| 1809| 1892| 83| Large public funeral, 12 October 1892.^[63] In 1893 the government formally requested there be a bust of Tennyson in Poets' Corner. The businessman-botanist Charles Jenner offered Thomas Woolner's 1857 bust of Tennyson to the Abbey, and it was placed near Tennyson's gravestone, by moving a tablet to Christopher Anstey, in 1895. There was no formal unveiling ceremony.^[64] | Poet|-| | Connop Thirlwall| 1797| 1875| 78| Marble bust by sculptor Edward Davis^[65] | Bishop and historian|-| | Thomas Triplet| 1602| 1670| 68| Marble memorial on west wall of South Transept^[66] | Prebendary|-| | Eva Marie Veigel| 1724| 1822| 98| Buried with her husband David Garrick| Dancer|} Memorials Image Name Born Died Age at death Year commemorated Details of memorial Occupation Joseph Addison 1672 1719 47 1809 Statue by Richard Westmacott. Addison is buried elsewhere in the Abbey. Poet and essayist Christopher Anstey 1724 1805 80 1807 Marble wall tablet^[67] Poet and author Matthew Arnold 1822 1888 65 1989 Memorial bust of 1891 in the east aisle of Poets' Corner by Albert Bruce-Joy. There is also a 1989 limestone and slate plaque honouring Arnold, by Donald Buttress, in Poets' Corner.^[68] Poet Peggy Ashcroft 1907 1991 83 2005 Floor stone Actress W. H. Auden 1907 1973 66 1974 Floor stone Poet Jane Austen 1775 1817 41 1967 Wall tablet Author John Betjeman 1906 1984 77 1996 Marble wall tablet^[69] Poet and author William Blake 1757 1827 69 1957 Bronze memorial bust by Jacob Epstein, 1957^[70] Poet and artist ... Barton Booth 1681 1733 51–52 1772 Monument Actor Charlotte Brontë 1816 1855 38 1947 Memorial tablet Author Anne Brontë 1820 1849 29 1947 Memorial tablet Author Emily Brontë 1818 1848 30 1947 Memorial tablet Author Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 1861 55 1906 Inscription added to Robert Browning's gravestone in 1906 Poet Fanny Burney 1752 1840 87 2002 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Author and playwright Robert Burns 1759 1796 37 1885 Marble memorial bust by John Steell. Unveiled 7 March 1885 by the Earl of Rosebery.^[71] ^[72] Poet Samuel Butler 1612 1680 68 1721 Memorial bust thought to be by John Michael Rysbrack; Butler is buried at St Paul's, Covent Garden.^[73] Poet George, Lord Byron 1788 1824 36 1969 Floor stone Poet Cædmon fl.657 fl.680 unknown 1966 Floor stone Poet John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll 1678 1743 64 1749 Monument by Louis-Francois Roubiliac, erected 1749, with figures representing History, Eloquence and Minerva. The Duke is buried elsewhere in the Abbey.^[74] Soldier and nobleman Lewis Carroll 1832 1898 65 1982 Floor stone Author John Clare 1793 1864 70 1989 Floor stone Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772 1834 61 1885 Memorial bust by Hamo Thornycroft^[75] Poet George Eliot 1819 1880 61 1980 Floor stone Author T. S. Eliot 1888 1965 76 1967 Floor stone Poet and playwright David Frost 1939 2013 74 2014 Floor stone^[76] Journalist, comedian, writer and media personality Elizabeth Gaskell 1810 1865 55 2010 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Novelist John Gielgud 1904 2000 96 2022 Floor stone Actor and director Oliver Goldsmith 1728 1774 45 1776 Memorial tablet and bust Poet and playwright Adam Lindsay Gordon 1833 1870 36 1934 Memorial bust by Kathleen Scott^[77] Poet John Ernest Grabe 1666 1711 44–45 1727 Monument by Francis Bird on the west wall of Poets' Corner erected 1726^[78] Priest and theologian Thomas Gray 1716 1771 54 1778 Monument Poet and historian Stephen Hales 1677 1761 83 1761 Monument Priest and scientist Robert Herrick 1591 1674 83 1994 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Poet Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844 1889 44 1975 Floor stone Poet A. E. Housman 1859 1936 77 1996 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Poet Ted Hughes 1930 1998 68 2011 Floor stone at the foot of that for T. S. Eliot, one of his main influences Poet Henry James 1843 1916 72 1976 Floor stone Author Ben Jonson 1572 1637 65 1723 Memorial with portrait medallion and masks designed by James Gibbs and carved by John Michael Rysbrack.^[79] Playwright and poet John Keats 1795 1821 25 1954 Mural tablet Poet John Keble 1792 1866 73 1873 Bust by Thomas Woolner Poet Charles Kingsley 1819 1875 55 1875 Bust by Thomas Woolner Author Philip Larkin 1922 1985 63 2016 Floor stone. The stone was inscribed with the final two lines from "An Arundel Tomb": Our almost-instinct almost true: What will survive of us is love. Poet and novelist D. H. Lawrence 1885 1930 44 1985 Floor stone Author and poet Edward Lear 1812 1888 75 1988 Floor stone Author and poet C. S. Lewis 1898 1963 64 2013 Floor stone. The dedication service, at noon on 22 November 2013, included a reading from The Last Battle by Douglas Gresham, younger stepson of Lewis. Flowers were laid by Walter Hooper, trustee and literary advisor to the Lewis Estate. An address was delivered by former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. The floor stone inscription is a quotation from an address by Lewis: "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else."^[80] Author Jenny Lind 1820 1887 67 1894 Wall tablet. "A medallion portrait of the famous singer – the last work of the late Mr Birch – has been placed in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, and was yesterday unveiled by the Princess Christian."^[81] Opera singer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 1882 75 1884 Marble bust by Thomas Brock, unveiled 1 March 1884.^[82] ^[83] Poet F. W. Maitland 1850 1906 56 2001 Floor stone Historian Christopher Marlowe (disputed portrait) 1564 1593 29 2002 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Playwright and poet William Mason 1724 1797 72–73 1799 Memorial, by John Bacon, in the east aisle of Poets' Corner Poet F. D. Maurice 1805 1872 66 1932 Bust in east aisle of Poets' Corner by Thomas Woolner Author ... Thomas May 1595 1650 54–56 1880 Wall stone Poet and playwright John Milton 1608 1674 65 1737 Monument Poet and author John Philips 1676 1709 32 1710 Monument Poet Alexander Pope 1688 1744 56 1994 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Poet John Pringle 1707 1782 74 ... Monument Military physician Hannah Pritchard 1711 1768 56–57 ... Monument. Later moved to the triforium. Actress John Ruskin 1819 1900 80 1902 Portrait roundel in bronze by Edward Onslow Ford. Unveiled 8 February 1902, after a controversy over whether Ruskin felt monuments like this wasted money and disfigured a building's architectural unity.^[84] Poet and art critic Walter Scott 1771 1832 61 1897 Bust by the Scottish sculptor John Hutchison, "a beautifully executed copy of the famous Chantrey bust at Abbotsford".^[85] Author and poet Thomas Shadwell c.1642 1692 ~50 c.1700 Monument Poet and playwright William Shakespeare 1564 1616 52 1740 Statue with surround designed by William Kent and carved by Peter Scheemakers^[86] Playwright and poet Granville Sharp 1735 1813 77 1816 Monument Slavery abolitionist Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 1822 29 1954 Mural tablet Poet Robert Southey 1774 1843 68 1845 Marble memorial bust with surround by Henry Weekes^[87] Poet William Makepeace Thackeray 1811 1863 52 1865 Marble bust by Carlo Marochetti^[88] Author James Thomson 1700 1748 47 1762 Sculpture group designed by Robert Adam and carved by Michael Spring^[89] Poet and playwright Dylan Thomas 1914 1953 39 1982 Floor stone Poet and author Anthony Trollope 1815 1882 67 1993 Floor stone Author William Vincent 1739 1815 76 c.1815^[90] 1 Monument Dean of Westminster Oscar Wilde 1854 1900 46 1995 Panel on Hubbard memorial window Playwright and author William Wordsworth 1770 1850 80 1854 Statue by Frederick Thrupp erected 1854.^[91] Poet James Wyatt 1746 1813 67 ... Monument Architect First World War poets The memorial in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, to 16 Great War poets is a slate stone slab with the names of the poets inscribed on it. It was unveiled on 11 November 1985, the 67th anniversary of the Armistice. An additional inscription quotes Owen's "Preface":^[92] Image Poet Born Died Age when war started^[93] Notes on war service Notes on poetry ... Richard Aldington 1892 1962 22 Enlisted 1916 Commissioned 1917 Second Lieutenant Royal Sussex Regiment ... Laurence Binyon 1869 1943 44 Volunteered in 1915 and 1916 Hôpital Temporaire d'Arc-en-Barrois British hospital for French soldiers ... Edmund Blunden 1896 1974 17 Commissioned August 1915 Second Lieutenant Royal Sussex Regiment ... Rupert Brooke ^† 1887 1915 27 Commissioned August 1914 Temporary Sub-Lieutenant Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve ... ... Wilfrid Gibson 1878 1962 35 Rejected several times Enlisted October 1917 Army Service Corps (Motor Transport) Never saw active service ... ... Robert Graves 1895 1985 19 Commissioned 1914 Royal Welch Fusiliers ... Julian Grenfell ^† 1888 1915 26 Commissioned 1910 Captain (at time of death) Royal Dragoons ... ... Ivor Gurney 1890 1937 23 Private Gloucestershire Regiment ... David Jones 1895 1974 18 Enlisted 1915 Private Royal Welch Fusiliers ... Robert Nichols 1893 1944 20 Commissioned 1914 Royal Artillery ... Wilfred Owen ^† 1893 1918 21 Enlisted 1915 Commissioned June 1916 Second Lieutenant Manchester Regiment ... Herbert Read 1893 1968 20 Captain Green Howards ... Isaac Rosenberg ^† 1890 1918 23 Enlisted October 1915 12th Suffolk Folk Regiment King's Own Royal Lancaster ... Siegfried Sassoon 1886 1967 27 Enlisted 1914 Commissioned May 1915 Captain (at end of war) Royal Welch Fusiliers ... Charles Sorley ^† 1895 1915 19 Enlisted 1914 Captain (at time of death) Suffolk Regiment ... Edward Thomas ^† 1878 1917 36 Enlisted July 1915 Artists Rifles Commissioned November 1916 Royal Garrison Artillery ... The ^† symbol indicates poets who died during the war. Royal Ballet The stone slab floor memorial to the four founders of the Royal Ballet was dedicated on 17 November 2009. Image Name Born Died Age at death Notes on Royal Ballet role Ninette de Valois 1898 2001 102 ... ... Frederick Ashton 1904 1988 84 ... Constant Lambert 1905 1951 45 ... Margot Fonteyn 1919 1991 71 ... Elsewhere in the Abbey Poets and writers commemorated elsewhere in Westminster Abbey, but not in Poets' Corner proper.^[94] ^[95] Image Name Born Died Age at death Year commemorated Details of memorial Notes on artistic career Robert Ayton 1570 1638 67–68 Bronze bust with figures of Apollo and Athene in south anbulatory^[96] Poet Aphra Behn 1640 1689 48 Gravestone Author and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1803 1873 69 Gravestone Author and poet John Bunyan 1628 1688 59 1912 Memorial window Author Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1623 1673 69–70 Monument Author and poet William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1592 1676 84 Monument Playwright and poet William Congreve 1670 1729 58 c.1730 Monument Playwright and poet Noël Coward 1899 1973 73 1984 Floor stone Playwright and composer William Cowper 1731 1800 68 1876 Memorial window Poet and hymnodist Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon 1637 1685 47–48 Grave not marked Poet Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield 1804 1881 76 1884 Statue by Joseph Boehm Author and politician George Herbert 1593 1633 39 1876 Memorial window Poet and orator Robert Howard 1626 1698 72 Playwright James R. Lowell 1819 1891 72 Tablet and window Poet Anne Oldfield 1683 1730 47 Gravestone Actress Henry Spelman c.1564 1641 76–77 Gravestone Antiquarian Arthur P. Stanley 1815 1881 65 1884 Tomb and effigy Author Sybil Thorndike 1882 1976 93 Gravestone Actress Ralph Vaughan Williams 1872 1958 86 1958 Floor stone Composer Isaac Watts 1674 1748 74 1779 Monument Hymnodist P. G. Wodehouse 1881 1975 93 2019 Stone plaque designed by Stephen Raw and carved by Annet Stirling, unveiled in the south choir aisle in 2019 ^[97] ^[98] Humourist, novelist, lyricist, playwright See also Poets' Corner is also the title of a play by James Huntrods,^[99] and The Poets' Corner was a book of caricatures of famous poets by Max Beerbohm published in 1904. External links

Notes and References

1. Harold Bloom (2009). "Geoffrey Chaucer". p. 13. Infobase Publishing
2. http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/elizabeth-gaskell "Elizabeth Gaskell"
3. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16055750 Ted Hughes takes his place in Poets' Corner
4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25031909 "CS Lewis honoured with Poets' Corner memorial"
5. Web site: Westminster Abbey honour for poet Philip Larkin. Westminster Abbey. June 2015. 27 November 2016.
6. News: Sawyer. Patrick. 'Outsider' Larkin finally joins the Establishment in Poets' Corner. The Daily Telegraph. 26 November 2016.
7. News: Westminster Poets' Corner memorial for Philip Larkin . BBC News . BBC . 2 December 2016 . 2 December 2016.
8. The Times, 26 March 1796, p. 3
9. http://www.westminster-abbey.org/press/news/news/2009/november/a-service-to-dedicate-a-memorial-to-the-founders-of-the-royal-ballet A Service to Dedicate a Memorial to the Founders of the Royal Ballet
10. Web site: Monuments & Gravestones: Ben Jonson . Westminster Abbey 1065 to today . Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey . 26 May 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080107172342/http://www.westminster-abbey.org/history-research/monuments-gravestones/people/12177 . 7 January 2008.
11. [Joseph Quincy Adams|Adams, J. Q.]
12. Book: Dunton , Larkin . The World and Its People . Silver, Burdett . 1896 . 34.
13. http://www.westminster-abbey.org/press/news/news/2010/january/abbey-to-honour-cranfords-creator Abbey to honour Cranford's creator
14. Web site: Elizabeth Gaskell. Westminster Abbey.
15. News: Oscar Wilde . Westminster Abbey . 9 May 2022 . 23 September 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200923062103/https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/oscar-wilde . live .
16. Web site: Isaac Barrow . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
17. Web site: Francis and John Beaumont . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
18. Web site: William Benson . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
19. Web site: Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore. Westminster Abbey. 7 September 2022.
20. Web site: Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning . Westminster Abbey. 7 September 2022.
21. Web site: Richard Busby . Westminster Abbey . 21 August 2022.
22. Web site: William Camden . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
23. The Times, 29 June 1844, p. 6; 4 July 1844, p. 5
24. Web site: Thomas Campbell . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
25. The Times, 22 August 1844, p. 3
26. Web site: Henry Francis Cary . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
27. Web site: Isaac Casaubon . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
28. Web site: Sir William Chambers . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
29. Web site: Geoffrey Chaucer . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
30. Web site: Abraham Cowley . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
31. Web site: Richard Cumberland . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
32. Web site: Sir William Davenant . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
33. Web site: Sir John Denham . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
34. 'Funeral of Mr. Charles Dickens', The Times, 15 June 1870.
35. Web site: Michael Drayton . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
36. Web site: John Dryden . Westminster Abbey. 9 August 2022.
37. Web site: Adam Fox . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
38. Web site: David & Eva Garrick . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
39. Web site: John Gay . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
40. The Times, 13 February 1827, p. 3
41. Web site: Charles Bacon . A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851. 2 September 2022.
42. Web site: Richard Hakluyt . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
43. Web site: George Frederic Handel . Westminster Abbey . 2 September 2022.
44. Web site: Monument to George Frederick Handel . The Courtauld Institute of Art . 2 September 2022.
45. Web site: John Henderson. Westminster Abbey. 9 August 2023.
46. Web site: Sir Henry (Brodribb) Irving . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
47. Web site: Samuel Johnson . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
48. Web site: Rudyard Kipling . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
49. Web site: Nicholas Litlyngton . Westminster Abbey . 7 September 2022.
50. The Times, 9 January 1860, p. 10; 10 January 1860, p. 9
51. Web site: Thomas Babington Macaulay . Westminster Abbey . 15 August 2022.
52. Web site: James Macpherson . Westminster Abbey . 15 August 2022.
53. Web site: Gilbert Murray . Westminster Abbey . 9 September 2022.
54. Web site: Laurence Olivier . Westminster Abbey . 9 September 2022.
55. Web site: Thomas Parr . Westminster Abbey . 9 September 2022.
56. Web site: Matthew Prior . Westminster Abbey . 16 August 2022.
57. Web site: Nicholas Rowe . Westminster Abbey . 9 September 2022.
58. Web site: Richard Brinsley Sheridan . Westminster Abbey. 9 September 2022.
59. Web site: Robert South. Westminster Abbey. 19 August 2022.
60. Web site: Edmund Spenser. Westminster Abbey. 9 September 2022.
61. Web site: Sir Robert Stapylton . Westminster Abbey. 9 September 2022.
62. Web site: Dame Mary Steele . Westminster Abbey. 9 September 2022.
63. The Times, 13 October 1892
64. "In accordance with the wish of the family there was no formal ceremonial of unveiling, and, as in the case of General Gordon, Dean Stanley, and the Earl of Beaconsfield, the memorial was placed, a possession for ever, in the presence of none save those by whom the work was done." The Times, 3 June 1895, p. 6
65. Web site: Connop Thirlwall . Westminster Abbey . 3 September 2022.
66. Web site: Thomas Triplet . Westminster Abbey . 9 September 2022.
67. Web site: Christopher Anstey. Westminster Abbey. 15 September 2022.
68. Web site: Thomas and Matthew Arnold. Westminster Abbey. 23 October 2022.
69. Web site: Sir John Betjeman. Westminster Abbey. 12 September 2022.
70. Web site: William Blake. Westminster Abbey. 6 September 2022.
71. The Times, 9 March 1885
72. Web site: Robert Burns . Westminster Abbey . 2 September 2022.
73. Web site: Samuel Butler . Westminster Abbey . 12 October 2022.
74. Web site: John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll . Westminster Abbey . 12 September 2022.
75. Web site: Samuel Taylor Coleridge . Westminster Abbey . 9 September 2022.
76. News: Sir David Frost's memorial at Westminster's Poets' Corner . BBC News . 13 March 2014 . 14 March 2014.
77. Web site: Adam Lindsay Gordon. Westminster Abbey. 29 July 2022.
78. Web site: John Ernest Grabe . Westminster Abbey. 9 September 2022.
79. Web site: Ben Jonson . Westminster Abbey . 12 October 2022.
80. Book: A service to dedicate a memorial to C. S. Lewis, writer, scholar, apologist. Westminster Abbey. 2013.
81. The Times, 21 April 1894
82. The Times, 2 November 1992, p. 6; 26 February 1884, p. 10; 3 March 1884, p. 8
83. Web site: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Westminster Abbey. 29 July 2022.
84. [Sydney C. Cockerell]
85. The Times, 22 May 1897, p. 16
86. Web site: William Shakespeare . Westminster Abbey . 12 September 2022.
87. Web site: Robert Southey. Westminster Abbey. 1 September 2022.
88. Web site: William Makepeace Thackeray. Westminster Abbey. 29 July 2022.
89. Web site: James Thomson. Westminster Abbey. 12 September 2022.
90. "Yesterday morning, at half-past eleven o'clock, the remains of Dr. VINCENT, the Dean of Westminster, were interred in a private manner, at the back of DRYDEN's monument." The Times, 30 December 1815, p. 3
91. Web site: William Wordsworth . Westminster Abbey . 15 August 2022.
92. http://net.lib.byu.edu/english/wwi/poets/poets.html Poets of the Great War
93. The date used here is 4 August 1914, the date Britain entered the war.
94. Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey (James Wilkinson, 2007), inside back page
95. Treasures of Westminster Abbey (Tony Trowles, 2008)
96. Web site: Robert Ayton . Westminster Abbey . 16 September 2022.
97. Web site: PG Wodehouse commemorated with Westminster Abbey plaque . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211/https://www.ft.com/content/3280beb6-db02-11e9-8f9b-77216ebe1f17 . 11 December 2022 . subscription . live . Financial Times . 20 September 2019 . 22 September 2019.
98. Web site: P.G Wodehouse . Westminster Abbey . 14 September 2022.
99. Web site: Two 4-star reviews for Poets' Corner.