Robert Bridges was born in Kent, England. He graduated from Oxford, where he became friends with Gerard Manley Hopkins, before studying at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London to become a doctor. His work in medicine was the inspiration for the poem “On a Dead Child” (1879-1880). In 1881 he was able to quit medicine and dedicate himself to poetry. He is best known for his lyric poem “The Testament of Beauty” (1929). As well as his own poetry, Bridges wrote literary criticism and edited other poets’ work. Bridges served as Poet Laureate of England from 1913 to 1930.