Robert Graves was a soldier in World War I; after the war, he became a full time author, critic, and poet. He was born into an upper middle class family near London, United Kingdom in 1895. His father, Alfred Graves, a scholar and poet, and his mother, Amalie von Ranke Graves, a strongly religious woman, were great influences to him. He was a superior student, and received a scholarship to attend a charter school at the age of 12. When he graduated high school in 1913, he was awarded a scholarship to St. John’s College in Oxford; however, he decided to join the military as an officer in 1914. He spent four years in service, and was injured twice in battle. He began writing poetry in 1916 while he was recovering from his first injury, and had
