윌리엄 어니스트 헨리

윌리엄 어니스트 헨리(William Ernest Henley, 1849년 8월 23일 - 1903년 7월 11일)는 영국의 시인, 작가, 비평가, 편집자였다. 헨리는 여러 권의 시집을 썼지만 1875년 시 '인빅터스'(Invictus)로 가장 많이 기억되고 있다. 런던 문단에서 외다리인 헨리는 로버트 루이스 스티븐슨의 캐릭터 롱 존 실버(보물섬, 1883)에게 영감을 주었고, 그의 어린 딸 마가렛 헨리는 J. M. 배리가 연극 피터팬(1904)의 여주인공으로 웬디라는 이름을 선택하는 데 영감을 주기도 했다.

Works

Editions

• The London, 1877–78, "a society paper" Henley edited for this short period, and to which he contributed "a brilliant series of… poems" which were only later attributed publicly to him in a published compilation from Gleeson White (see below).
• In 1890, Henley published Views and Reviews, a volume of notable criticisms, which he described as "less a book than a mosaic of scraps and shreds recovered from the shot rubbish of some fourteen years of journalism". The criticisms, covering a wide range of authors (all English or French save Heinrich Heine and Leo Tolstoy), were remarkable for their insight. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote that he had not received the same thrill of poetry so intimate and so deep since George Meredith's "Joy of Earth" and "Love in the Valley": "I did not guess you were so great a magician. These are new tunes; this is an undertone of the true Apollo. These are not verse; they are poetry." In 1895, Henley's poem, "Macaire", was published in a volume with the other plays.
• With John Stephen Farmer, Henley edited a seven volume dictionary of Slang and its analogues (1890–1904).
• Henley did other notable work for various publishers: the Lyra Heroica, 1891; A Book of English Prose (with Charles Whibley), 1894; the centenary Burns (with Thomas Finlayson Henderson) in 1896–97, in which Henley's Essay (published separately in 1898) roused considerable controversy. In 1892 he undertook for Alfred Nutt the general editorship of the Tudor Translations; and in 1897 began for the publisher William Heinemann an edition of Lord Byron, which did not proceed beyond one volume of his letters.

Poetry

• The poems of In Hospital are noteworthy as some of the earliest free verse written in the UK. Arguably Henley's best-remembered work is the poem "Invictus", written in 1875. It is said that this was written as a demonstration of his resilience following the amputation of his foot due to tubercular infection. Henley stated that the main theme of his poem was "The idea that one's decisions and iron will to overcome life's obstacles, defines one's fate".
• In Ballades and Rondeaus, Chants Royal, Sestinas, Villanelles, &c… (1888), compiled by Gleeson White, including 30 of Henley's works, a "selection of poems in old French forms." The poems were mostly produced by Henley while editing The London in 1877–78, but also included a few works unpublished or from other sources (Belgravia, The Magazine of Art); appearing were a dozen of his ballads, including "Of Dead Actors" and "Of the Nothingness of Things", his rondels "Four Variations" and "The Ways of Death", ten of his Sicilian octaves including "My Love to Me" and "If I were King", a triolet by the same name, three villanelles including "Where's the Use of Sighing", and a pair of burlesques.
• Editing Slang and its analogues inspired Henley's two translations of ballades by François Villon into thieves' slang.
• In 1892, Henley published a second volume of poetry, named after the first poem, "The Song of the Sword" but later re-titled London Voluntaries after another section in the second edition (1893).
• Hawthorn and Lavender, with Other Verses (1901), a collection entirely of Henley's, with the title major work, and 16 additional poems, including a dedication to his wife (and epilogue, both penned in Worthing), the collection is composed of 4 sections; the first, the title piece "Hawthorn and Lavender" in 50 parts over 65 pages. The second section is of 13 short poems, called "London Types", including examples from "Bus-Driver" to "Beefeater" to "Barmaid". The third section contains "Three Prologues" associated with theatrical works that Henley supported, including "Beau Austin" (by Henley and Robert Louis Stevenson, that played at Haymarket Theatre in late 1890), "Richard Savage" (by J. M. Barrie and H. B. Marriott Watson that played at Criterion Theatre in spring 1891, and "Admiral Guinea" (by again by Henley and Stevenson, that played at Avenue Theatre in late 1897). The fourth and final section contains 5 pieces, mostly shorter, and mostly pieces "In Memoriam".
• A Song of Speed, his last published poem two months before his death.

Plays

• During 1892, Henley also published three plays written with Stevenson: Beau Austin, Deacon Brodie, about a corrupt Scottish deacon turned housebreaker, and Admiral Guinea. Deacon Brodie was produced in Edinburgh in 1884 and later in London. Herbert Beerbohm Tree produced Beau Austin at the Haymarket on 3 November 1890, and Macaire at His Majesty's on 2 May 1901.