Poetical Works of Lionel Johnson

Poetical Works of Lionel Johnson by Lionel Pigot Johnson, 307 pages

 

Lionel Johnson was a poet in the last decades of the nineteenth century.  He was a member of the circle of English Decadent poets that also included Ernest Dowson and Oscar Wilde.  His long battle with alchoholism ended when he died from head injuries suffered in a fall off a barstool.

 

Although primarily a religious poet, he is also capable of evoking a profound "sense of place" especially pronounced in his poems celebrating his love of Ireland, Wales, and Cornwall.  A sly sense of humor and a genuine sense of delight lend life to his encounters with nature and nature's God.