No End to Snowdrops A Biography Of Kathleen Raine

This authorised biography of poet Kathleen Raine tells the story of how she developed from a small girl, who knew at the age of eight that she wanted only to write poetry, into a world-renowned poet and literary scholar. Philippa Bernard follows Kathleen Raine’s struggle against the constrictions of her suburban childhood to her exciting days at Girton College in the 1920s, where she became friends with many brilliant writers, artists, and scientists, whose friendships lasted all her life. After a short marriage to Hugh Sykes Davies, she eloped with the poet Charles Madge to live in Blackheath, where two children were born. Kathleen had already achieved critical acclaim and published several volumes of poetry when she had some disastrous relationships with other men. She became a leading Blake scholar, which was followed by works on Coleridge, Yeats, and Thomas Taylor. She founded the journal Temenos with the help of Prince Charles, who became a good friend. This book she assesses this unusual woman of the highest intellect who loved her children deeply, but deserted them to follow her instincts