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Eleanor Farjeon

Eleanor Farjeon (February 13, 1881- June 5, 1965) Author of stories for the young at heart of all ages, the most well known of her creations are probably the lyrics to the song Morning Has Broken, written in 1931 for an old Gaelic tune, and highly popularized by the Cat Stevens rendition of it in 1971.

Her father encouraged her writing from the age of five, and at 18 she wrote the lyrics for an operetta "Floretta" to the music created by her older brother, Harry Farjeon, who became a well respected composer.

She had a wide range of friends with great literary talent including D.H. Lawrence, Walter de la Mare, and Robert Frost. For several years she had an unusually intense friendship with the married poet Edward Thomas, until his death in April 1917, during the World War I Battle of Arras. One of her most notable works Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard was written as a gift to him during his miliary service. She later published much of their correspondence, and gave an account of their relationship in Edward Thomas: The Last Four Years (1958).

Eleanor never married, but had a thirty-year relationship with George Earle, an English teacher. After his death in 1949, she had a long relationship with the actor Denys Blakelock, who wrote of it in the book Portrait of a Farjeon (1966).

Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard is now in the public domain and available through the Project Gutenberg link below.

Partial Bibliography

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