John Davidson was a Scottish poet and playwright who inspired some of the earliest Modernist poets, including Hugh MacDiarmid, Wallace Stevens, Virginia Woolf and TS Eliot. A controversial figure in the Victorian age, Davidson was a divisive writer who wrote about taboo topics at the time, shedding light on some of the darker aspects of humanity and civilisation. Davidson was a bold writer who explored the tension between science and church, traditionalism and innovation and explored the human purpose through his thought-provoking ballads.
Finding inspiration in the likes of Friedrich Nietzsche and merging them with emerging theories of the time, such as Darwinism, a lot of Davidson's works took on a pessimistic light, exploring nihilism and how humanity is insignificant. He was disillusioned with the Victorian ideals of romance and neo-classicist tendencies, often exploring the internal struggles of the individual and the death of faith. These views and writings, in many ways, paved the way for early modernist thought, foreshadowing some of the crucial aspects of Modernism.
Davidson grew up in Scotland in a modest family. He studied at the University of Edinburgh but did not get a degree. He went to London to pursue a career as a writer, joining the famous Rhymer's Club alongside the likes of YB Yeats, Ernest Rhys, and other now hugely renowned writers. Davidson made a living as a writer, occasionally abandoning his work to write plays, but he struggled with financial hardships throughout his life. His work, while highly acclaimed by his peers, failed to garner much fame during his lifetime. Ultimately, he committed suicide by drowning himself in Penzance, off the coast of Cornwall, at the age of 51 years old.
Davidson's works drew high praise from his peers and later found a lot of popularity among modernist writers. His bleak view of the world and fatalistic opinions inspired many of his contemporaries and 20th-century writers.
John Davidson's great strength was in his ballads and verse. Fleet Street Eclogues, which was written in 1893, reflects Davidson's views of Victorian society. Set in London, he witnessed the full effects of industrialization, capitalism, and the emergence of scientific thought in contemporary society.
Davidson's next great work was The Testament of a Vivisector, which explored the ethics of science and humanity's claim to moral superiority. These combined lots of thoughts that were radical in nature and taboo at the time. The nihilistic view of imperialism, racism, the new world and scientific discoveries brought Davidson a fair share of infamy and praise from his contemporaries.
But arguably his most controversial work was Testament of John Davidson, published a year before his death. This was the most personal of his work and presents readers with a philosophical dilemma and manifesto. It dives into Davidson's vision of a world in which humankind is insignificant, and there is no purpose for living. A pragmatic man, his personal struggle with faith and materialism that he encountered in Victorian society gave Davidson extremely damning world views. At the end of the work, he signed off with a grim foreshadowing of his fate:
"Exempt from Death is he who takes his life;
My time has come."
