author
Lionel Johnson
1867–1902
A gifted poet and critic of the 1890s, this writer is remembered for finely wrought verse shaped by faith, melancholy, and the moody atmosphere of the fin de siècle. His life was brief, but poems such as The Dark Angel helped secure his place among the Decadent writers of late Victorian England.
1 Audiobook
Poems
by Lionel Johnson
About the author
Born in Broadstairs, Kent, on March 15, 1867, Lionel Pigot Johnson was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford. He graduated in 1890 and converted to Roman Catholicism in 1891, a commitment that deeply marked both his inner life and his poetry.
Johnson became known as an English poet, essayist, and critic associated with the Decadent movement and the literary circles of the 1890s, including the Rhymers' Club. His writing is often admired for its careful music, spiritual seriousness, and wistful, reflective tone. He also moved within the same world as figures such as W. B. Yeats and Oscar Wilde.
Critics have often seen him as one of the characteristic voices of the so-called “tragic generation” of the 1890s. He died in London on October 4, 1902, at just thirty-five, leaving behind a small but lasting body of work that continues to draw readers interested in late Victorian poetry, religion, and literary decadence.