Died 4 December 1993 | ||
Books Salathiels Lied, Salathiel's Song, Poems, Poems, revue sketches and fragments, Collected Poems People also search for James Thomson, Kathryn Riley, Tom Hesketh, Nicholas Johnson | ||
Seán Rafferty (5 February 1909, Kettleholm, Dumfriesshire, Scotland – 4 December 1993, Iddesleigh, Devon, England) was a Scottish poet, based in England from 1932 until his death. His poetry has been praised by Sorley MacLean, Ted Hughes, Michael Morpurgo and Hugh MacDiarmid and published in collections by the major British poetry presses Carcanet and Etruscan.
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Personal life
The death of Rafferty's first wife, Betty Bryant, in 1945, by whom he had a daughter, figures prominently in his poetry. He married Peggy Laing in 1947 and the next year moved with her to Iddesleigh, Devon, where he was landlord of the "Duke of York" public house. He lived in Iddesleigh until his death in 1993, aged 84.
Writing
Rafferty's poetic work is squarely within the Anglo-American modernist tradition, reflecting variously the influence of traditional English lyric, Celtic bardic poetry, balladry, and popular song.