BIOGRAPHIES

Hall, J. C. Edwin Muir. London: Longman's, Green and Co., 1956.

An early book-length literary biography of Muir.

Kinzie, Mary. “Edwin Muir and the Primal World.” In By Herself—Women Reclaim Poetry, edited by Molly McQuade, pp. 132-54. St. Paul, Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 2000.

A biographical essay that addresses Muir's upbringing and use of archetypal imagery in his poetry.

Muir, Willa. Belonging: A Memoir. London: Hogarth Press, 1968.

Willa Muir's well-respected memoir of her life with her husband.

Wiseman, Christopher. Beyond the Labyrinth: A Study of Edwin Muir's Poetry. Victoria, British Columbia: Sono Nis Press, 1978.

Biographical book-length volume on the life and art of Muir.

CRITICISM

Butter, Peter H. Edwin Muir: Man and Poet. Edinburgh and London: Oliver and Boyd, 1966.

A book-length literary biography of the life and works of Muir.

Butter, Peter H. “The Evolution of Some Late Poems of Edwin Muir.” Scottish Literary Journal 24, no. 2 (November 1997): 79-84.

A speculative analysis of Muir's writing and editing process in composing “The Last War” and “The Day Before the Last Day.”

Carruth, Hayden. “An Appreciation of Muir.” Prairie Schooner 2, no. 2 (summer 1958): 148-53.

A brief review of Muir's Collected Works, which had been reissued in the United States in 1958.

Garber, Frederick. “Edwin Muir's Heraldic Mode.” Twentieth-Century Literature: A Scholarly and Critical Journal 12, no. 2 (July 1966): 96-103.

An analysis of the use of heraldic animals and fabulous beasts in several poems by Muir, including “The Human Fold,” “The Covenant,” and “The Emblem.”

Gaskill, P. H. “Hölderlin and the Poetry of Edwin Muir.” Forum for Modern Language Studies 16, no. 1 (January 1980): 12-32.

Considers the influence of the German poet, Hölderlin, on the poetry of Muir, focusing in particularly on the poem “Hölderin's Journey.”

Grice, Fred. “The Poetry of Edwin Muir.” Essays in Criticism 5, no. 3 (July 1955): 243-52.

Places Muir's work in the context of a poetic movement in the 1930s called the New Apocalypse, arguing that although Muir did not associate himself with the New Apocalyptics, his vision of the world echoes theirs.

Hamburger, Michael. Art as Second Nature: Occasional Pieces 1950-74. Cheshire, England: Carcanet New Press Limited, 1975.

Devotes several essays to Muir's poetry, criticism, and letters.

Holloway, John. “The Modernity of Edwin Muir.” In The Colors of Clarity: Essays on Contemporary Literature and Education. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964.

Argues that Muir's work struggles with the problems of modernity and places Muir in a greater European context, especially with regard to Rainer Maria Rilke and Franz Kafka.

Huberman, Elizabeth. The Poetry of Edwin Muir: The Field of Good and Ill. New York: Oxford University Press, 1970.

Analysis of Muir's poetry, focusing on his intellectual and religious development as a poet.

Marshall, George. “Muir's Orkney.” In Edwin Muir: Centenary Assessments, edited by C. J. M. MacLachlan and D. S. Robb, pp. 19-31. Aberdeen, Scotland: Association for Scottish Studies, 1990.

Examines Muir's references to and uses of Orkney landscape and images in his poetry and prose.

Merton, Thomas. “The True Legendary Sound: The Poetry and Criticism of Edwin Muir.” In The Literary Essays of Thomas Merton, edited by Brother Patrick Hart, pp. 29-36. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1981.

Explores the metaphysical concern with being and naming in several poems by Muir, including “The Horses” and “One Foot in Eden.”

O'Donoghue, N. D. “Edwin Muir: The Untutored Mystic.” In Edwin Muir: Centenary Assessments, edited by C. J. M. MacLachlan and D. S. Robb, pp. 119-28. Aberdeen, Scotland: Association for Scottish Studies, 1990.

Considers Muir as a self-taught mystic, or a man or woman who “in the search for God as a Source of light and life finds himself or herself suddenly or dramatically filled with the presence of the God they have been seeking.”

Phillips, Michael J. Edwin Muir: A Master of Modern Poetry. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, 1978.

Analysis of Muir's poetry, with many examples and close readings of the poems.

Robertson, Ritchie. “Edwin Muir and Rilke.” German Life and Letters 36, no. 4 (July 1983): 317-28.

Explores Muir's response to, and growing affection for, the work of Rainer Maria Rilke.

Robertson, Ritchie. “Edwin Muir As European Poet.” Edwin Muir: Centenary Assessments, edited by C. J. M. MacLachlan and D. S. Robb, pp. 102-18. Aberdeen, Scotland: Association for Scottish Studies, 1990.

Drawing extensively upon the work of John Holloway, Robertson suggests that Muir is best understood as a European poet.

Stanford, Derek. “Absolute Values in Criticism: A Study of the Work of Edwin Muir.” The Month 5, no. 1 (January 1951): 237-44.

Considers the influence of Nietzsche in Muir's literary criticism.

British Writers Supplement, Vol. 6; Contemporary Authors, Vol. 193; Contemporary Authors—Brief Entry, Vol. 104; Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vols. 20, 100, 191; Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century, Ed. 3; Literature Resource Center; Reference Guide to English Literature, Ed. 2; and Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, Vols. 2, 87.