Amy Clarke
Encyclopedia
Amy Key Clarke was an English mystical poet and author, a teacher at Cheltenham Ladies' College
.
Amy Key Clarke was educated at St Paul's Girls' School
and at Cheltenham Ladies' College
where she was a student at St Hilda’s House from 1905–1906 – the senior house of the College. After reading Classics at Newnham College Cambridge
she returned to teach at the College in 1924 as Senior Classical Mistress becoming successively Head of Classics, Head of Upper College, and Director of University Entrants. She was away from 1939 to 1947, when she returned as House Mistress of St Hilda’s House in Cheltenham Ladies' College until 1948, and then finally retired in 1953. She wrote a mystical poem called "Vision of Him" which in 1917 was published in the Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse.
. Florence was a mystic
who believed herself to be a prophet
whom the voices she heard addressed as “Mary”: she compared herself to Abraham
, Isaiah
and The Messiah
, but it should be said that she was later, for a short period, committed to the care of the Holloway Sanatorium
in Virginia Water
, Surrey
. Florence's daughter was Edith Cunningham, then 18, whom Amy had met at St Paul's Girls' School
.
Amy Clarke was enamoured of the spirituality of the poems of Florence, and wrote to Florence from Newnham College saying that she was leaving there by inspiration in order to come and stay at her flat. This announcement was a surprise, but Florence did not refuse her as she was a friend of her daughter. Amy stayed for 7 weeks, and during that time she would speak to Florence while in a state of inspiration for one or two hours at a time, only in the presence of her husband and daughter. Florence related that definite miracles happened which were witnessed by her family during Amy’s sojourn in order to demonstrate that she was under the control of higher powers. Amy left as suddenly as she came, in an agreeable way: she wrote to Florence on Christmas Eve
, 1917, addressing her as "My dear Mother".
, histories of schools with which she had been associated (Truro High School
and Cheltenham Ladies' College
) and a work in mystical religious philosophy, The Universal Character of Christianity (1950).
.
Cheltenham Ladies' College
The Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.-History:The school was founded in 1853...
.
Life
She was born at 121 Elgin Crescent, Kensington, London, England. Her parents were Henry Clarke, a private tutor, and Amy Key, a literary writer and first headmistress of Truro High School.Amy Key Clarke was educated at St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School is a senior independent school, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England.-History:In 1904 a new day school for girls was established by the trustees of the Dean Colet Foundation , which had run St Paul's School for boys since the sixteenth century...
and at Cheltenham Ladies' College
Cheltenham Ladies' College
The Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.-History:The school was founded in 1853...
where she was a student at St Hilda’s House from 1905–1906 – the senior house of the College. After reading Classics at Newnham College Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
she returned to teach at the College in 1924 as Senior Classical Mistress becoming successively Head of Classics, Head of Upper College, and Director of University Entrants. She was away from 1939 to 1947, when she returned as House Mistress of St Hilda’s House in Cheltenham Ladies' College until 1948, and then finally retired in 1953. She wrote a mystical poem called "Vision of Him" which in 1917 was published in the Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse.
Amy Clarke and Florence Cunningham
In 1917 Amy stayed for seven weeks with Florence Cunningham (1871–1950) at her home in BayswaterBayswater
Bayswater is an area of west London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the west . It is a built-up district located 3 miles west-north-west of Charing Cross, bordering the north of Hyde Park over Kensington Gardens and having a population density of...
. Florence was a mystic
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
who believed herself to be a prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
whom the voices she heard addressed as “Mary”: she compared herself to Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, Isaiah
Isaiah
Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...
and The Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
, but it should be said that she was later, for a short period, committed to the care of the Holloway Sanatorium
Holloway Sanatorium
Holloway Sanatorium was an institution for the treatment of the insane, located on of parkland near the town of Virginia Water, Surrey, within the boundary of the Greater London Urban Area, about south-west of Charing Cross....
in Virginia Water
Virginia Water
Virginia Water is an affluent village, a lake and, originally, a stream, the village being in the Runnymede Borough Council in Surrey and the bodies of water stretching over the borders of Runnymede, Old Windsor and Sunninghill and Ascot, England....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. Florence's daughter was Edith Cunningham, then 18, whom Amy had met at St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School is a senior independent school, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England.-History:In 1904 a new day school for girls was established by the trustees of the Dean Colet Foundation , which had run St Paul's School for boys since the sixteenth century...
.
Amy Clarke was enamoured of the spirituality of the poems of Florence, and wrote to Florence from Newnham College saying that she was leaving there by inspiration in order to come and stay at her flat. This announcement was a surprise, but Florence did not refuse her as she was a friend of her daughter. Amy stayed for 7 weeks, and during that time she would speak to Florence while in a state of inspiration for one or two hours at a time, only in the presence of her husband and daughter. Florence related that definite miracles happened which were witnessed by her family during Amy’s sojourn in order to demonstrate that she was under the control of higher powers. Amy left as suddenly as she came, in an agreeable way: she wrote to Florence on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, 1917, addressing her as "My dear Mother".
Publications
In addition to her poetry, Clarke published a scholarly edition of work by the Latin poet ClaudianClaudian
Claudian was a Roman poet, who worked for Emperor Honorius and the latter's general Stilicho.A Greek-speaking citizen of Alexandria and probably not a Christian convert, Claudian arrived in Rome before 395. He made his mark with a eulogy of his two young patrons, Probinus and Olybrius, thereby...
, histories of schools with which she had been associated (Truro High School
Truro High School for Girls
Truro High School for Girls is a private school in Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom, for girls aged 3–18.The school was founded in 1880 by the future archbishop Edward White Benson, then Bishop of Truro.Its first headmistress was Amy Key...
and Cheltenham Ladies' College
Cheltenham Ladies' College
The Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.-History:The school was founded in 1853...
) and a work in mystical religious philosophy, The Universal Character of Christianity (1950).
Works
- The Universal Character of Christianity. London: Faber and Faber, 1950.
- A History of the Cheltenham Ladies' College, 1853-1953. London: Faber and Faber, 1953.
- A History of the Cheltenham Ladies' College, 1853-1979. Suffolk: John Catt, 1979.
- The Story of Truro High School, the Benson Foundation: with a memoir of its first headmistress Amy Key. 1980.
Death
When Amy Key Clarke died at the age of 87 in 1980, her home was St. Ninian's, Victoria Street, CambridgeCambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
.
External links
- “Vision of Him” by Amy K. Clarke
- Nicholson, D. H. S. and Lee, A. H. E., eds., “The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse”, Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1917; Bartleby.com, 2000.
- Obituary, The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, Monday, June 23, 1980