AUSTIN, ALFRED ), English poet-laureate, was born at Headingley, near Leeds, May 3o 1835, and died June 2 1913 at Swinford Old Manor, near Ashford, Kent. He was educated at Stonyhurst, Oscott, and London University, from which he was graduated in 1853, and was called to the bar f our years later. He made his first noteworthy appearance as a writer with a satire called The Season, which showed both wit and observation. Austin published several volumes of verse : Savona rola (1881), a tragedy; Soliloquies (1882) ; Prince Lucifer (1887); England's Darling (1896) ; The Conversion of Winckel mann (1897), etc. For several years he edited The National Review, and wrote leading articles for The Standard.
After Tennyson's death in 1892, no new poet-laureate was nominated for several years. Eventually, in 1896, Austin was appointed. His verses for official occasions did not escape adverse criticism ; his hasty poem in praise of the Jameson raid in 1896 being a notable instance. The most effective characteristic of Austin's poetry, as of the best of his prose, is a genuine and inti mate love of nature. His prose idylls, The Garden that I love and In Veronica's Garden, are full of a pleasant open-air flavour, which is also the outstanding feature of his English Lyrics.