Charles Causley had a distinguished career as a poet and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1958.Charles Causley (1917-2003) was born and raised in Launceston, Cornwall, and spent his whole life there. His father died of tuberculosis caused by wounds received during World War I when he was seven years old.When he was a young man, Charles Causley always wanted to become an author and wrote his first novel and many poems by the time he attained the age of nine years. He also participated as a piano player for a dance band, an event that most probably influenced his ballad-like poetry, which he authored.Causley was severely affected by the early loss of his father and his own experiences of serving in World War II, where he served as a coder for the Royal Navy. Charles Causley won many prestigious awards during his career as a poet, including the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and a Cholmondeley Award.His work strayed from the dominant poetic styles of the 20th century instead of leaning on indigenous sources of inspiration such as folk music, hymns, and, most of all, ballads. The clarity and formality of Causley’s poetry have earned him a large following, making him one of the ‘best-loved and most needed’ poets of the previous 50 years, in the opinion of Ted Hughes.Causley’s command of ancient forms gives his poetry a timeless aspect, and his voice is more communal than personal. As a result, it’s feasible to envisage stories like ‘Miller’s End’ being repeated around a campfire a century or more later. This traditionalism has concealed his imagery’s audacity, a visionary quality as odd and powerful as William Blake, one of his recognized mentors.Before he embarked on a successful career as a poet, he worked as a teacher at the Former National School, Launceston. He was associated with the school both as a pupil and a teacher. Causley worked as a member of the Poetry Panel of the Arts Council of Great Britain between year 1962-1966. The visionary model of the poetic outsider can be observed widely in his religious poetry and war poetry. From 1953 and till his death, Causley often published in volumes, magazines, and anthologies. But it was with his work’ Union Street’, which was published in the year 1957 by Ruper-Hart Davis, his reputation was established in the true sense.He also published several collections of his collected poems that the readers highly appreciated. After the abandonment of cadenced free verse and the documentary aesthetic that the style meant for him, Causley created his mastery over extremely formal poems. He earned recognition and fame at various poetry readings he conducted.Read on to know more about his most collected poems, which include ‘Survivor’s Leave,’ ‘Christian Verse,’ and ‘Magic Verse.’ Afterward, also check Antonia Novello facts and Antonin Artaud facts.Charles Causley’s Place Of BirthCharles Causely, without any doubt, is one of the most famous poets and authors that Great Britain ever produced. His name and fame spanned worldwide, where he was highly respected for his literary skills. Even today, his works are studied by many literature students in schools and universities.But do you know anything about his younger years, like, where he was born, who his parents were, where did he die? If not, then read these interesting facts shared about his origins.Apart from his years of wartime duty, a term of teacher training, and a number of stints as a traveling or residential speaker/tutor/writer, he lived the majority of his life in the same town. On November 4, 2003, at the age of 86, he died in the town.Causley’s father (also Charles, but known as ‘Charlie’) died of a lung illness brought on by his service on the Western Front just after World War I ended. Charles, his only son, was seven years old at the time, and his grief was evident in his work. Causley was nurtured by his mother, to whom he eventually dedicated himself.Causley dropped out of school at 15 and worked as a clerk in local businesses for a while. Still, he continued to nurture his early literary interests and skill by reading widely and composing plays for local productions. His debut play, ‘Runaway,’ was published when he was just 19 years old, and he went on to write numerous more. When Causley was in his early 20’s, ‘Runaway’ was broadcast on the BBC’s Home/West Country (radio) station soon before the onset of World War 2.Following his qualification, he returned to his hometown of Launceston to teach at the elementary school which he had attended as a youngster. He worked in that field until 1976, when he took early retirement to pursue his dream of being a full-time writer. He spent his leisure time writing, editing, broadcasting, and traveling as much as he could during the school vacations. He traveled extensively as a British Council lecturer and poet reader, and he worked in a variety of educational and cultural organizations across the world.The Society of Authors awarded him with a traveling scholarship two times during his career. A campaign to appoint him as the Poet Laureate was launched twice after the death of John Betjeman. But the campaigns could not succeed, and the rile of the Poet Laureate was given to Ted Hughes. Charles Causley was not affected by this event as he himself was not extremely keen on the idea of becoming the Poet Laureate. But for all the people of his hometown, Charles Causley became the greatest Poet Laureate they ever had.Charles Causley’s Most Famous PoemOver the years, Charles Causley authored a wide range of poems and novels. A career that spanned almost five decades, he has written some impressive poems, but which is his most famous poem? Read on to know more about the famous works of Charles Causley.The Hand and Flower Press released Causley’s first book of poems, ‘Farewell, Aggie Weston,’ in 1951. ‘Survivor’s Leave’ followed in 1953, and ‘Union Street’ published by Rupert Hart-Davis, with a passionate introduction by Edith Sitwell, cemented his literary fame in 1957.During the 1960s, Causley published two further volumes of new poems - ‘Johnny Alleluia’ and ‘Underneath the Water.’ His poetry was frequently anthologized, and he collaborated with several contemporary British poets on volumes. He also established himself as an anthologist, critic, writer, and broadcaster, most notably as the long-running host of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Poetry Please.‘Causley began publishing children’s poetry in the late 1960s. Some are simple rhymes intended to please young readers only by their rhythm and musical quality. Other poems meticulously examine people, the world, and life and present powerful stories for children to enjoy. Many of these publications included well-known artists as illustrators. Causley always agreed that ’there are no good poems for children that are only for children’, and there is some overlap between his Collected Poems and his Collected Poems for Children.Charles Causley’s Full NameWhile the whole world knows him by the name Charles Causley, what was his full name? Read on to find out his full name and some important phases of his life.Causley’s full name was Charles Stanley Causley. Charles Causley was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1958, and in 1986, he was granted the CBE.Causley enjoyed a local eminence in Launceston that amounted to the freedom of the parish as his fame as a poet of worldwide renown developed. He detailed a discussion he had with a Canadian expatriate writer who was touring about a town in The Listener in 1977.Underneath the Water (1969), released two years after his mother’s stroke, was his best collection to date and very much the work of a writer who had ‘gone home,’ yet with no desire to roost. It included a number of his best-known and other poems, including ‘Timothy Winters,’ ‘Ballad of the Bread Man,’ and ‘By St Thomas Water.‘How many poems did Charles Causley write?There is no exact count of how many poems did he write but indeed, over a career spanning over five decades, he authored many poetic masterpieces.Causley accepted invitations to be writer-in-residence at the University of Western Australia, the Footscray Institute of Technology in Victoria, and the School of Fine Arts in Banff, Alberta, despite being happiest in Launceston (he listed ’the rediscovery of his native town’ as one of his recreations in Who’s Who).Causley received several awards during his lifetime as a poet. As a child, he had written to William Brown’s creator, Richmal Crompton, asking if he might join his gang. Crompton’s publishers responded with sorrow, advising him that there was now no vacancy. Friends learned of this and planned for him to get another letter on his 84th birthday, informing him that there was now a vacancy and that he was welcome to apply.A fundamental theme, like Blake’s, is the transition from innocence to experience; therefore, it’s no surprise that children frequently appear in Causley’s poetry, especially the widely anthologized ‘Timothy Winters.’ Indeed, some of Causley’s best poems were written for children, and he perceived no distinction between the two strands of his work. Causley understood that poetry could appeal to both children and adults.He is the author of some of the most collected poems in history, with his narrative poems and story poems earning him accolades from across the world. Charles Causley’s poems, short stories, plays, and opera librettos are still read widely by literature students in various colleges and universities. He is also credited with editing many poetry anthologies and writing articles and literature reviews for leading magazines like the Poetry Quarterly and the London Magazine.Was Charles Causley married?Are you also wondering if Charles Causley was ever married? Well, you must know that he was never married! Yes, Charles Causley remained a bachelor throughout his 86 years. Read on for some interesting details about why he did not think of marriage and lived a life without a wife.Causley was recorded for the newly created Poetry Archive soon before his death as a good reader of his poetry (he preserved his distinctive Cornish accent).Charles Causley once told an interviewer that he never thought of marriage. He never married and instead spent his life devoted to the care of his mother, his career, and his poetry. He led his life as a lifelong bachelor, and some speculated that the reason was his proximity to his mother and his preference to spend most of his life in his hometown.The reading revealed no signs of illness, but he was unable to live at home by this time due to a major fall, and the recording was taken at Kernow House, a nursing home on Landlake Road, Launceston where he died on November 4, 2003. He was buried at Launceston’s St Thomas’s Church, where a memorial service was performed on December 1. He never married and had no children. Charles Causley’s cause of death was revealed to be prolonged ill-health. He died in a nursing home located close to his hometown.Causley, at 70, wrote a collection of new poems and prose tributes, as well as some previously unheard Causley’s material, which was released to commemorate his 70th birthday.He was regarded as a quiet and unassuming man by many in his hometown of Launceston and Cornwall, as well as abroad in the literary and artistic communities. His public readings were known for the reverence with which he treated his listeners.Charles Causley died at a nursing facility near his Launceston home of many decades, Cyprus Well, in November 2003, at the age of 86, following years of declining health. Only months before his death, he recorded a handful of poems there for the Poetry Archive; he had finished his last poems only a few years previously.While he has now been dead for almost two decades, the legacy of Charles Causley’s poems still lives on. Most of his collected poems and literary work are highly revered by students of literature across the world. The wide range of poems he has authored continues to inspire a generation of aspiring writers and will continue to do so for many more years to come. Collections of Charles Causley’s poems indeed make for a lesson in literature for anyone interested in the art of writing.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created many interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Charles Causley facts, then why not take a look at Antoninus Pius facts or Antonio Banderas facts?
Charles Causley had a distinguished career as a poet and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1958.
