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Lives Of The Poets
''Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets'' (1779–81), alternatively known by the shorter title ''Lives of the Poets'', is a work by Samuel Johnson comprising short biographies and critical appraisals of 52 poets, most of whom lived during the eighteenth century. These were arranged, approximately, by date of death. From the close of the 18th century, expanded editions and updates of Johnson's work began to appear. Background Johnson began writing individual biographical pieces in 1740, the first being devoted to Jean-Philippe Baratier, Robert Blake, and Francis Drake. In 1744 he wrote his first extended literary biography, the ''Life of Mr Richard Savage'', in honour of a friend who had died the year before. Various accounts are given of how Johnson came to write his ''Lives of the Poets'' during an episode of anti-Scottish sentiment in England. As related in the preface to the 1891 edition of the Lives, Scottish publishers had started to produce editions of the collected ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnson - Reynolds
Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a habitational name. Etymology The name itself is a patronym of the given name ''John'', literally meaning "son of John". The name ''John'' derives from Latin ''Johannes'', which is derived through Greek ''Iōannēs'' from Hebrew ''Yohanan'', meaning "Yahweh has favoured". Origin The name has been extremely popular in Europe since the Christian era as a result of it being given to St John the Baptist, St John the Evangelist and nearly one thousand other Christian saints. Other Germanic languages * Swedish: Johnsson, Jonsson * Icelandic: Jónsson See also * List of people with surname Johnson *Gjoni (Gjonaj) *Ioannou * Jensen *Johansson * Johns *Johnsson * Johnston *Johnstone *Jones *Jonson *Jonsson *Jovanović Jovanović ( sr-Cyr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl Of Roscommon
Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon (1637–1685), was an Anglo-Irish landlord, Irish peer, and poet. Birth and origins Wentworth was born in October 1637 in Dublin, probably in St George's Lane. He was the only son of James Dillon, 3rd Earl of Roscommon, and Elizabeth Wentworth. His father was the 3nd Earl of Roscommon. He had conformed to the established church. Wentworth's mother was English, a sister of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, who was therefore his uncle. Strafford was viceroy at the time of Wentworth's birth. Early life As a young child he was educated by a tutor at Wentworth Woodhouse, his uncle Thomas's family seat in South Yorkshire. Later he was sent to Caen in Normandy, where a Calvinist academy or university existed at that time and where Wentworth is supposed to have been taught by Samuel Bochart. His father died accidentally in Limerick in 1649: according to family tradition Wentworth, who was at Caen at the time, exclaimed "My father is dea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lycidas
"Lycidas" () is a poem by John Milton, written in 1637 as a pastoral elegy. It first appeared in a 1638 collection of elegies, ''Justa Edouardo King Naufrago'', dedicated to the memory of Edward King, a friend of Milton at Cambridge who drowned when his ship sank in the Irish Sea off the coast of Wales in August 1637. The poem is 193 lines in length and is irregularly rhymed. Many of the other poems in the compilation are in Greek and Latin, but "Lycidas" is one of the poems written in English. Milton republished the poem in 1645. History of the name Lycidas Herodotus in his Book IX (written in the 5th century BC) mentions an Athenian councilor in Salamis, "a man named Lycidas" ( Λυκίδας), who proposed to his fellow citizens that they submit to a compromise offered by their enemy, Persian King Xerxes I, with whom they were at war. Suspected of collusion with the enemy for suggesting the compromise, Lycidas was stoned to death by "those in the council and those out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Milton
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political upheaval. It addressed the fall of man, including the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and God's expulsion of them from the Garden of Eden. ''Paradise Lost'' is widely considered one of the greatest works of literature ever written, and it elevated Milton's widely-held reputation as one of history's greatest poets. He also served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell. Writing in English, Latin, and Italian, Milton achieved global fame and recognition during his lifetime; his celebrated ''Areopagitica'' (1644), written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship, is among history's most influential and impassioned defences of freedom of spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bonnell Thornton
Bonnell Thornton (1725–1768) was an English poet, essayist, and critic. He was educated at Westminster School, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1747. In 1752 Thornton founded the ''Drury Lane Journal'', a satirical periodical which, among other things, lampooned other journals such as Johnson's ''Rambler'', ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' and ''The London Magazine''. Twelve issues were published between January and April 1752. From 1754 to 1756 he published, with George Colman, a six-page weekly serial, ''The Connoisseur'', which, although criticised by Dr. Johnson for lack of substance, ran to 140 issues. He was a frequent contributor to ''The Gentleman's Magazine''. Thornton was also a member of the Nonsense Club of Old Westminster men with George Colman, William Cowper, Charles Churchill and Robert Lloyd. He married Sylvia Braithwaite, younger and posthumous daughter of Colonel John Braithwaite by his wife Silvia Cole, and sister of Major-General Sir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Colman The Elder
George Colman (April 1732 – 14 August 1794) was an English dramatist and essayist, usually called "the Elder", and sometimes "George the First", to distinguish him from his son, George Colman the Younger. He also owned a theatre. Early life He was born in Florence, where his father was stationed as British Resident Minister (diplomatic envoy) at the court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Colman's father died within a year of his son's birth and William Pulteney- afterwards Lord Bath- whose wife was Mrs. Colman's sister, undertook to educate the boy. After he received private education in Marylebone, George attended Westminster School. Colman left school in due course for Christ Church, Oxford. There he made the acquaintance of the parodist Bonnell Thornton, with whom he co-founded '' The Connoisseur'' (1754–1756), a periodical which "wanted weight," as Johnson said, although it reached its 140th number. He left Oxford after taking his degree in 1755 and, having been entered a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his plays ''The Good-Natur'd Man'' (1768) and ''She Stoops to Conquer'' (1771, first performed in 1773). He is thought to have written the classic children's tale ''The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes'' (1765). Biography Goldsmith's birth date and year are not known with certainty. According to the Library of Congress authority file, he told a biographer that he was born on 10 November 1728. The location of his birthplace is also uncertain. He was born either in the townland of Pallas, near Ballymahon, County Longford, Ireland, where his father was the Anglican curate of the parish of Forgney, or at the residence of his maternal grandparents, at the Smith Hill House near Elphin in County Roscommon, where his grandfather Oliver Jones was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Churchill (satirist)
Charles Churchill (February 1732 – 4 November 1764) was an English poet and satirist. Early life Churchill was born in Vine Street, Westminster. His father, Rev. Charles Churchill, was rector of Rainham, Essex, held the curacy and lectureship of St Johns, Westminster, from 1733, and Charles was educated at Westminster School, where he became a good classical scholar, and formed a close and lasting friendship with Robert Lloyd. He was admitted to St John's College, Cambridge on 8 July 1748. Churchill contracted a marriage with a Miss Scot within the rules of the Fleet in his eighteenth year, and never lived at Cambridge; the young couple lived in his father's house, and Churchill was afterwards sent to the north of England to prepare for holy orders. He became curate of the church of St Thomas à Becket in South Cadbury, Somerset, and, on receiving priest's orders (1756), began to act as his father's curate at Rainham. Two years later the elder Churchill died, and the son w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edmund Smith (poet)
Edmund Smith (1672–1710), born Edmund Neale, was a minor English poet in the early 18th century. He is little read today but Samuel Johnson included him in his ''Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets'' in 1781. Biography The son of a successful merchant, Edmund Smith attended Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford where he stayed until 1705. Smith translated ''Phèdre'' by Racine which was staged in 1707 and died in Wiltshire in 1710. Notable works *''Phaedra and Hippolitus'' (1707) (translation of ''Phèdre'' by Racine) *''A poem on the death of Mr. John Philips John Philips (30 December 1676 – 15 February 1709) was an 18th-century English poet. Early life and education Philips was born at Bampton, Oxfordshire, the son of Rev. Stephen Philips, later archdeacon of Salop, and his wife Mary Wood. ...'' (1710) *''Works'' (1714) (posthumous publication) *''Thales; a monody, sacred to the memory of Dr. Pococke. In imitation of Spenser'' (1750) (posthumous pub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Philips
John Philips (30 December 1676 – 15 February 1709) was an 18th-century English poet. Early life and education Philips was born at Bampton, Oxfordshire, the son of Rev. Stephen Philips, later archdeacon of Salop, and his wife Mary Wood. He was at first taught by his father and then went to Winchester College. He suffered from delicate health but became a proficient classical scholar. He was treated with special indulgence because of his personal popularity and delicate health. He had long hair, and when others were at play, he liked to stay in his room reading Milton while someone combed his locks. He was then at Christ Church, Oxford under Dean Aldred, where Edmund Smith was his greatest friend. He intended to become a physician, but devoted himself to literature instead. Poetical works Philips was loath to publish his verse but his '' Splendid Shilling'' was included, without his consent, in a ''Collection of Poems'' published by David Brown and Benjamin Tooke in 1701 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir Herbert Croft, 5th Baronet
Sir Herbert Croft, 5th Baronet (1 November 1751 – 26 April 1816), English author best known for his novel ''Love and Madness''. Life Croft was born at Dunster Park, Berkshire, son of the son of Herbert Croft and Elizabeth Young. He matriculated at University College, Oxford, in March 1771, and was subsequently entered at Lincoln's Inn. He was called to the bar, but in 1782 returned to Oxford with a view to preparing for holy orders. In 1786 he received the vicarage of Prittlewell, Essex, but he remained at Oxford for some years accumulating materials for a proposed English dictionary. Croft spent years on this project and he also took on preparation work made by Joseph Priestley. However, despite compiling thousands of entries not found in other dictionaries, the project was finally abandoned because of a failure to find sufficient subscribers.Dorothy McMillan, ‘Walker , Lady Mary (1736–1822)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200accessed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Young
Edward Young (c. 3 July 1683 – 5 April 1765) was an English poet, best remembered for ''Night-Thoughts'', a series of philosophical writings in blank verse, reflecting his state of mind following several bereavements. It was one of the most popular poems of the century, influencing Goethe and Edmund Burke, among many others, with its notable illustrations by William Blake. Young also took holy orders, and wrote many fawning letters in search of preferment, attracting accusations of insincerity. Early life Young was a son of Edward Young, later Dean of Salisbury, and was born at his father's rectory at Upham, near Winchester, where he was baptized on 3 July 1683. He was educated at Winchester College, and matriculated at New College, Oxford, in 1702. He later migrated to Corpus Christi, and in 1708 was nominated by Archbishop Tenison to a law fellowship at All Souls. He took his degree of Doctor of Canon Law in 1719.Chisholm, 1911 Literary career Young's first publica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
