Ronald Auguste was born in Saint Lucia, where he began writing poetry in his very early teens, strongly influenced by historical English poets such as Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, Matthew Arnold, George Gordon, Lord Byron, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. His perspective deepened as an immigrant in London in the 1960s, and in the United States, where he has lived since the 1970s. Although the character of his poetry is traditional, his themes span a wide spectrum, from birth, love, and death, to modern politics and social strife. In his poetry, love for both humanity and country is profound, although some may be unable to perceive that. Most of his poetry is dedicated to loved ones, who are an integral part of his being.
The Love They Do Not Use - a collection of Auguste’s “civil rights poems”, inspired by the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and the civil rights movement in the United States - is the work of many years.