Burns Singer born James Hyman Singer in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and an American citizen all his life, was a poet usually identified as Scottish. He was brought up in Scotland from a young age, and educated in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

. He had Polish, Jewish and Irish ancestry, and showed considerable interest in Polish poetry

Polish poetry

Polish poetry has a centuries old history, similar to the Polish literature.Three most famous Polish poets are known as the Three Bards: Adam Mickiewicz , Juliusz Słowacki and Zygmunt Krasiński ....

. His collaborative translations of Polish poets included Ignacy Krasicki

Ignacy Krasicki

Ignacy Krasicki , from 1766 Prince-Bishop of Warmia and from 1795 Archbishop of Gniezno , was Poland's leading Enlightenment poet , a critic of the clergy, Poland's La Fontaine, author of the first Polish novel, playwright, journalist, encyclopedist, and translator from French and...

, Juliusz Slowacki

Juliusz Slowacki

Juliusz Słowacki was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of modern Polish drama. His works often feature elements of Slavic pagan traditions, Polish history, mysticism and orientalism....

, Cyprian Norwid

Cyprian Norwid

Cyprian Kamil Norwid, a.k.a. Cyprian Konstanty Norwid is a nationally esteemed Polish poet, dramatist, painter, and sculptor. He was born in the Masovian village of Laskowo-Głuchy near Warsaw. One of his maternal ancestors was Polish King John III Sobieski.Norwid is regarded as one of the second...

 and Jerzy Peterkiewicz. Some of these appeared in the anthology

Anthology

An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...

 Five Centuries of Polish Poetry, 1450–1950 (1962), with Peterkiewicz, and a later edition.

In 1945 he came south to London, taking some teaching work, and then went to Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

 where he came into contact with W. S. Graham

W. S. Graham

William Sydney Graham was a Scottish poet who is often associated with Dylan Thomas and the neo-romantic group of poets. Graham's poetry was mostly overlooked in his lifetime but, partly due to the support of Harold Pinter, his work has enjoyed a revival in recent years...

, a major poetic influence. He studied at Glasgow University, beginning degree courses in Zoology and English; but abandoned those after the 1951 suicide of his mother. He had by then spent a year in Marburg

Marburg

Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...

, and done some service in the U. S. Army.

Singer then worked for four years in marine biology

Marine biology

Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...

, supporting his father. In 1955 he married Marie Battle, an African-American psychologist; they moved to London, where he sought freelance work writing. He enjoyed a period of success in literary journalism, and as a poet. It is considered that his style was a 'middle way' or compromise: between the New Apocalyptics

New Apocalyptics

The New Apocalyptics were a poetry grouping in the UK in the 1940s, taking their name from the anthology The New Apocalypse , which was edited by J. F. Hendry and Henry Treece...

 and the Movement

The Movement

- Music :* The Movement , an American rock/reggae band* The Movement , the house music act* The Movement , a Danish/German mod revival punk band* The Movement , 2003...

, or the Scottish Renaissance

Scottish Renaissance

The Scottish Renaissance was a mainly literary movement of the early to mid 20th century that can be seen as the Scottish version of modernism. It is sometimes referred to as the Scottish literary renaissance, although its influence went beyond literature into music, visual arts, and politics...

 and the Sassenach.

He spent some time with Marie in 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...

, before ultimately returning to marine biology. His early death, in Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

, was from a heart attack.

Works

• Living Silver (1953) non-fiction
• Still and All (1957) (poems)
• Five Centuries of Polish Poetry (1962) with Jerzy Peterkiewicz
• Collected Poems (1970) edited by W. A. S. Keir
• Selected Poems (1977) edited by Anne Clusenaar
• Collected Poems (2001) edited by James Keery