Laurence Lerner
Encyclopedia
Laurence Lerner (born 12 December 1925) is a South Africa
n born British
literary critic and poet and novelist. He was born in Cape Town
to parents of Lithuania
n-Jewish ancestry, and educated at the University of Cape Town
and Pembroke College, Cambridge
.
He was lecturer in English
, University College of the Gold Coast
, 1949–53, tutor then lecturer in English, Queen's University, Belfast, 1953–62, lecturer then reader then professor of English, University of Sussex
1962-84, and professor of English, Vanderbilt University
, Nashville
, Tennessee
, 1985-95. He won the 1991 Harvie Branscomb Distinguished Professor Award.
He was also a Governor of Leighton Park School
, the Quaker school in England. He was at one point associated with the group of poets known as The Movement
.
Kaspar Hauser
All that long time there was the place I was,
All that long same, the dark and constant same.
I came to being and it bit my eyes.
I want to be a rider like my father.
A soldier was my father was a horseman.
I want to be a rider and I want
Out of that same he carried me upstairs,
Out of that dark and then I stood to lean;
The soft ground stood and hit me where I fell.
When it was hunger time they put soft life
Into my mouth. It moved. The warm flesh tore
Under my teeth. This could be me I'm eating.
I spat and called: I loved that time, those horses,
The brittle bread, the water, the soft dark,
The stiff floor always there, the always steady
Till I was carried to the bumpy world:
The air threw needles at my eyes. I fell.
Where were my walls, my horse to push, and where -
I want my floor my bread my dark my always -
I want the same the only same the only -
I want to be a rider like my father
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n born British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
literary critic and poet and novelist. He was born in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
to parents of Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n-Jewish ancestry, and educated at the University of Cape Town
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
and Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
.
He was lecturer in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, University College of the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (British colony)
The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
, 1949–53, tutor then lecturer in English, Queen's University, Belfast, 1953–62, lecturer then reader then professor of English, University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
1962-84, and professor of English, Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
, Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, 1985-95. He won the 1991 Harvie Branscomb Distinguished Professor Award.
He was also a Governor of Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School is a co-educational Quaker independent school for both day and boarding pupils. It is situated in the large town of Reading in Berkshire, in South East England...
, the Quaker school in England. He was at one point associated with the group of poets known as The Movement
The Movement (literature)
The Movement was a term coined by J. D. Scott, literary editor of The Spectator, in 1954 to describe a group of writers including Kingsley Amis, Philip Larkin, Donald Davie, D.J. Enright, John Wain, Elizabeth Jennings, Thom Gunn, and Robert Conquest...
.
Works
- "The History of a Poem", The Dark Horse", Summer 1997
- Angels and absences: child deaths in the nineteenth century, Vanderbilt University Press, 1997, ISBN 9780826512871
- The Victorians, Methuen, 1978, ISBN 9780416562101
- An introduction to English poetry: fifteen poems discussed by Laurence Lerner, Edward Arnold, 1975, ISBN 9780713157895
Poem
Here is a poem by Laurence Lerner (not infringing copyright, since submitted by the author, who holds the copyright!)Kaspar Hauser
All that long time there was the place I was,
All that long same, the dark and constant same.
I came to being and it bit my eyes.
I want to be a rider like my father.
A soldier was my father was a horseman.
I want to be a rider and I want
Out of that same he carried me upstairs,
Out of that dark and then I stood to lean;
The soft ground stood and hit me where I fell.
When it was hunger time they put soft life
Into my mouth. It moved. The warm flesh tore
Under my teeth. This could be me I'm eating.
I spat and called: I loved that time, those horses,
The brittle bread, the water, the soft dark,
The stiff floor always there, the always steady
Till I was carried to the bumpy world:
The air threw needles at my eyes. I fell.
Where were my walls, my horse to push, and where -
I want my floor my bread my dark my always -
I want the same the only same the only -
I want to be a rider like my father