BLUNT

blunt, wilfrid scawen (1840- ), english poet and publicist, was born on the 17th of august 1840 at petworth house, sussex, the son of francis scawen blunt, who served in the peninsular war and was wounded at corunna. he was educated at stonyhurst and oscott, and entered the diplomatic service in 1858, serving successively at athens, madrid, paris and lisbon. in 1867 he was sent to south america, and on his return to england retired from the service on his marriage with lady anne noel, daughter of the earl of lovelace and a grand-daughter of the poet byron. in 1872 he succeeded, by the death of his elder brother, to the estate of crabbet park, sussex, where he established a famous stud for the breeding of arab horses. mr and lady anne blunt travelled repeatedly in northern africa, asia minor and arabia, two of their expeditions being described in lady anne's _bedouins of the euphrates_ (2 vols., 1879) and _a pilgrimage to nejd_ (2 vols., 1881). mr blunt became known as an ardent sympathizer with mahommedan aspirations, and in his _future of islam_ (1888) he directed attention to the forces which afterwards produced the movements of pan-islamism and mahdism. he was a violent opponent of the english policy in the sudan, and in _the wind and the whirlwind_ (in verse, 1883) prophesied its downfall. he supported the national party in egypt, and took a prominent part in the defence of arabi pasha. _ideas about india_ (1885) was the result of two visits to that country, the second in 1883-1884. in 1885 and 1886 he stood unsuccessfully for parliament as a home ruler; and in 1887 he was arrested in ireland while presiding over a political meeting in connexion with the agitation on lord clanricarde's estate, and was imprisoned for two months in kilmainham. his best-known volume of verse, _love sonnets of proteus_ (1880), is a revelation of his real merits as an emotional poet. _the poetry of wilfrid blunt_ (1888), selected and edited by w.e. henley and mr george wyndham, includes these sonnets, together with "worth forest, a pastoral," "griselda" (described as a "society novel in rhymed verse"), translations from the arabic, and poems which had appeared in other volumes.