With thanks to Dr Connie Ruzich* for discovering this poet for us
Edward Lewis Davison was born in Fife, Soctland in 1898 and grew up in Newcastle. He left school when he was 12 to support his mother by working as an assistant in a music hall. In 1914, Edward joined the Royal Navy with the rank of Sub Lieutenant, serving as a Paymaster.
After the war, Edward went to study Modern Languages at St John's College, Cambridge University on a scholarship. When at Cambridge Edward edited an anthology of student poetry and met and became friends with the writer J. B. Priestley, with whom he shared accommodation when he moved to live in London.
While living in London, Edward contributed to The London Mercury and other magazines. He met an American girl, Nat alie Weiner, and followed her to the United States in 1925. Natalie and Edward were married in New York in 1926. Their son Peter Davison was born in June 1928. Peter also became a poet.
Edward taught at Vassar College, the University of Miami, and the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was involved in the Colorado Writers 1937 Conference. He was a friend of American poet Robert Frost
In 1943, during the Second World War, shortly after becoming a Naturalized Citizen of the United States, Edward joined the US Army. He attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Due to his knowledge of the German language, he was named Director of the Special Projects Division, which was responsible for overseeing the re-education of German prisoners of war.
Edward died on 8th February 1970.
According to Catherine Reilly, Edward’s poetry collections were
“Poems” (Bell,1920)
“Harvest of Youth: poems” (Harper, New York, 1926)
“The Heart’s Unreason” (Gollancz, 1931.
And he also had a poem published in “Soldiers’ verse” Edited by Patric Dickinson (Muller, 1945)
Sources: Find my Past, Wilipedia,
Catherine W. Reilly “English Poetry of the First World War: A Bibliography” (St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1978). Pp. 106 and 7.
https://www.nytimes.com/1970/02/09/archives/edward-davison-poet-and-teacher-exdean-at-hunter-prolific-writer-is.html
* You can read Edward's WW1 poem for Conscientious Objectors on Dr Connie Ruzich's wonderful Website Behind their Lines here:: https://behindtheirlines.blogspot.com/2018/07/singing-in-shattered-street.html
