Alfred Noyes

Born in Wolverhampton, England, on September 16, 1880, Alfred Noyes grew up partly in Wales, a landscape that helped shape his imagination. He studied at Exeter College, Oxford, but left before taking a degree and turned early to writing, publishing his first poetry collection, The Loom of Years, in 1902.

He became one of the most widely read poets of his day, admired for musical, accessible verse in a traditional style. Many readers know him best for The Highwayman, first published in 1906, but he also wrote short stories, plays, criticism, and longer works including The Torch-Bearers, a trilogy about the history of science. From 1914 to 1923 he taught modern English literature at Princeton University in the United States.

Noyes continued writing for decades and remained a prominent literary voice well into the 20th century. He died on June 25, 1958, and is remembered above all for poetry that is vivid, narrative, and easy to hear aloud, which helps explain why his work still finds new readers and listeners.