Philosopher, critical theorist, and poet, Francis Edward Sparshott has written on a wide range of moral, aesthetic, and intellectual issues. Some of his theoretical writings have appeared in publications alongside those of Northrop Frye, whose influence on him has been considerable. Yet he prefers to describe himself as "primarily a poet, secondarily a writer of miscellaneous prose, and a teacher by necessity."

Born in Chatham, England, to Frank Brownley Sparshott, a teacher, and Gladwys Head Sparshott, Francis Sparshott was educated at King's School, Rochester, and entered Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in 1943. He spent several months early in 1944 writing poetry (work later collected in A Divided Voice), but he interrupted his writing and studies to join the British Army Intelligence Corps, serving in Palestine and earning the rank of sergeant before returning to Oxford in 1947. As a teenager he had felt poetry to be his calling; but by his...