Arthur Christopher Benson, FRSL was an English essayist, poet and academic, who served as the 28th Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. He wrote the lyrics of Edward Elgar's _Coronation Ode_, including the words of the patriotic song "Land of Hope and Glory" (1902). His literary criticism, poems, and volumes of essays were highly regarded. He was also noted as an author of ghost stories. According to contemporary critics and historians, he is thought to have been homosexual; homosexual themes often present themselves very subtly in his work. Benson's diary is one of the longest diaries in the English language.
