William Morris was born in 1834 in Walthamstead, Essex, England, and
died in London in 1896. He went to Exeter College, Oxford, in 1853,
where he formed a close friendship with Edward Burne-Jones, the future
artist. A little later he came under the influence of Rossetti, who
induced him to attempt painting, an art which he followed with no great
success. In 1858 he published _The Defence of Guinevere, and Other
Poems_. This volume was followed by _The Life and Death of Jason_
(1867), _The Earthly Paradise_ (finished 1872), and _Sigurd the Volsung_
(1876). In 1863 he became a manufacturer of wall paper and artistic
furniture, branching out afterwards into weaving, dyeing, and other
crafts. After 1885 he was a confirmed Socialist, speaking frequently at
laborers' meetings and pouring forth a steady stream of leaflets and
pamphlets in support of his radical beliefs. His death was probably due
to overwork.
Morris was by instinct a lover of the beautiful and harmonious. A fluent
versifier, he delighted especially in the composition of narrative
poetry, which he adorned with ornate description and superb decoration.
This very richness sometimes cloys the taste and tends to arouse a
feeling of monotony. His longest work, _The Earthly Paradise_, is
modelled somewhat on Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_, and contains
twenty-four stories, twelve mediæval and twelve classic in origin.
A satisfactory short life is that by Alfred Noyes in the English Men of
Letters Series.