William Morris (1834-96)

English poet, writer, craftsman, furniture and textile designer, businessman and socialist, born in London and educated at Oxford, where he met Burne-Jones (1833-98), who became a companion for life. In 1856 he met D. G. Rossetti (1828-82), and took part in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. As a poet he published The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems(1858), The Earthly Paradise (1868-70) and other works. Morris considered the traditional ballad an ideal form of poetry and created a great many literary ballads throughout his life. His ballads are like the tapestries he designed, brimming over with a medieval atmosphere. Incidentally, it is a notorious fact that his wife, Jane, had an affair with Rossetti over many years. (M. M.)