Once a prominent writer in several genres, Hilaire Belloc’s popularity declined in the last decades of his life and even more so after his death, perhaps because of his rejection of modern approaches to literature and his attachment to old-fashioned forms, notably the personal essay, but perhaps most of all because of his political views, which included militant Catholicism and what was generally seen as an extreme form of anti-Semitism. He is perhaps most remembered for his light verse featuring children such as Henry King (known for “chewing little bits of string”: Bartlett 902a) and for some haunting, elegiac lines from his more serious poetry. He is also remembered for being part of the “Chesterbelloc”, Bernard Shaw’s humorous term for the partnership between him and G.K.…
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Citation: Goldfarb, Sheldon. "Hilaire Belloc". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 February 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=348, accessed 10 November 2024.]
