Beside Still Waters

Arthur Christopher Benson (1862-1925) was a British essayist, poet and author. He was one of six children of Edward White Benson, a late nineteenth-century Archbishop of Canterbury. The Benson family were exceptionally literate and accomplished, but their history was somewhat tragic. A son and daughter died young, and another daughter, as well as Benson himself, suffered badly from a mental condition that was probably manic-depressive psychosis. Despite his illness, Benson was a distinguished academic and a most prolific author. He was associated with Eton College, and was Master of Magdalene College of Cambridge University. His poems and volumes of essays, such as From a College Window (1906), were famous in his day, and he left one of the longest diaries ever written, some four million words. Among his other works are: The Altar Fire (1907), At Large (1908), The Silent Isle (1910), The Child of the Dawn (1912), Joyous Gard (1913), and Watersprings (1913).