Thomas Hardy, H. G. Wells, Austin Dobson, George Saintsbury, and other scholars and writers gathered at a memorial service for William Ernest Henley on 17 July 1907, to watch Lord Plymouth unveil in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral a bronze replica of a bust Auguste Rodin had made of the poet. Those present at the service heard a statement sent by George Meredith, then seventy-six, who described Henley as "one of the main supports of good literature in our time." The words inscribed beneath the bust identify Henley as simply "Poet, 1849-1903." Henley's contribution to literature lay not only in writing poetry but, as Meredith's words imply, in his related activities as well. His impact on literature cannot be separated from his energetic, charismatic personality and his aggressive, articulate stands on the major aesthetic controversies of the late 1800s. He encouraged many writers, including some of the realists of...