Graves, Robert (Ranke)

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English poet and writer. He was severely wounded on the Somme in World War I, and his frank autobiography Goodbye to All That (1929) contains outstanding descriptions of the war. Collected Poems (1975) contained those verses he wanted preserved, some of which were influenced by the American poet Laura Riding, with whom he lived for some years. His fiction includes two historical novels of imperial Rome, I Claudius and Claudius the God (both 1934). His most significant critical work is The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth (1948, revised edition 1966).

Graves was born in London, the son of Alfred Perceval Graves, and educated at Oxford. During World War I he served with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, in the same regiment as the writer and poet Siegfried Sassoon. In 1926 he was professor of English in Cairo. Living in Mallorca, Spain for the next few years, he ran the Seizin Press in partnership with Laura Riding. After World War II he went back to the island. He was professor of poetry at Oxford 1961–66.

The green panel and the crescent represent Islam. Red recalls the original flag. Effective date: 26 July 1965. >>