- Sydney Goodsir Smith
Sydney Goodsir Smith (
26 October 1915 –15 January 1975 ) was aNew Zealand -Scottish poet, artist, dramatist and novelist. He wrote poetry in literary Scots often referred to asLallans , and was a major figure of theScottish Renaissance .He was born in
Wellington ,New Zealand , and moved toEdinburgh with his family in 1928. He was at school atMalvern College . He went toEdinburgh University to study medicine, but abandoned that, and started to read history atOriel College, Oxford ; whence he was expelled, but managed to complete a degree.His first poetry collection of many, "Skail Wind", was published in 1941. "Carotid Cornucopius" (1947) was a comic novel about Edinburgh. His play "The Wallace" formed part of the 1960
Edinburgh Festival ."Under the Eildon tree" (1948), a long poem in 24 parts, is considered by many his finest work; "The Grace of God and the Meth-Drinker" is a much-anthologised poem. "Kynd Kittock's land" (1964) was a commission of a poem to be televised by the
BBC .He died in Edinburgh. He is now commemorated in
The Makars' Court there.Works
*"Skail wind - poems", Edinburgh, The Chalmers press, 1941
*"The wanderer, and other poems", Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd, 1943
*"The deevil’s waltz", Glasgow, W. MacLellan, 1946
*"Selected poems", Edinburgh, published forThe Saltire Society by Oliver and Boyd, 1947
*"So late into the night - fifty lyrics, 1944-1948", with a preface byEdith Sitwell , London, P. Russell, 1952
*"Robert Ferguson, 1750-1774", Edinburgh, Nelson, 1952
*"Orpheus and Eurydice - a dramatic poem", Edinburgh, M. Macdonald, 1955
*"Figs and thistles", Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd, 1959
*"The Wallace, a triumph in five acts", Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd, 1960
*"Carotid Cornucopius, caird of the Cannon Gait and voyeur of the Outlook Touer", Edinburgh, M. Macdonald, 1964
*"Kynd Kittock’s land", Edinburgh, M. Macdonald, 1965
*"Fifteen poems and a play", Edinburgh, Southside, 1969
*"Collected poems, 1941-1975", with an introduction byHugh McDiarmid , London, John Calder, 1975
*"The drawings of Sydney Goodsir Smith, poet, collected by Ian Begg", edited by Joy Hendry, Edinburgh, Chapman Press, on behalf ofThe New Auk Society , 1998
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