Empson, William (1906-1984), was a distinguished English poet and literary critic. Along with I. A. Richards, one of his teachers at Cambridge University, and several other critics in the mid-1920’s, Empson promoted the importance of systematic textual analysis in criticism. Empson’s approach influenced the development of a later critical movement in the United States called New Criticism. The New Critics believed that the study of literature should concentrate on a close examination of the text rather than external elements, such as historical or biographical factors.
Empson studied mathematics as well as literature at Cambridge. His verse has been recognized for its wit and complexity, and reflects his interest in science and technology, which he used as metaphors in his poems. Many readers and scholars, however, have found his poetry obscure. His poems were collected in Poems (1935), The Gathering Storm (1940), and Collected Poems (1949, revised edition 1955). Much of his poetry shows the influence of the Metaphysical poetry of the English poet John Donne.
As a critic, Empson’s best-known work is Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930). The work argued that identifying the range of possible meanings and associations of a poem’s language could lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation of a poetic work. Empson’s other critical works include Some Versions of Pastoral (1935), The Structure of Complex Words (1951), Milton’s God (1961), and Using Biography (1985).
Empson was born in Yorkshire on Sept. 27, 1906. Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 1979, and he became known as Sir William Empson. He died on April 15, 1984.
