Lionel Johnson

About

British poet, author, and critic whose works include The Dark Angel and Ireland and Other Poems. He was a member of the Rhymers' Club, a late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century group of London poets.

Before Fame

He studied at New College, Oxford and at Winchester College.

Trivia

He converted to Catholicism in 1891.

Family Life

He lived a lonely life in London and struggled with alcoholism. His troubles may have stemmed from his repression of his homosexuality.

Associated With

Johnson's critical sonnet, "The Destroyer of a Soul," was directed at his (former) friend Oscar Wilde, with whom he had had a falling out.