Bunting, Basil (1900–1985)

English poet. His verse was given little attention when it first appeared in the 1930s, but he was rediscovered in the 1960s and some of his finest work, often dealing with autobiographical material, appeared after 1965. The long poem Briggflatts (1966) is organized as a sonata and is dense with historical and personal allusion.

Bunting was born in Scotswood-on-Tyne and educated at the London School of Economics. Imprisoned as a conscientious objector during World War I, he lived in France, Italy, and the USA during the 1920s and 1930s. He was Persian correspondent of The Times after World War II, and taught at US and British universities. In 1972 he became president of the Poetry Society.

He was strongly influenced by Ezra Pound and Louis Zukofsky, but was overshadowed by poets like W H Auden, Stephen Spender, and Louis MacNeice. His works include The First Book of Odes (1965), Loquitur (1965), Two Poems (1967), and Collected Poems (1968).