Ambrose Philips (167418 June 1749) was an English poet and politician. He feuded with other poets of his time, resulting in Henry Carey bestowing the nickname " Namby-Pamby" upon him, which came to mean affected, weak, and maudlin speech or verse.

Life

He was born in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

of a Leicestershire family. He was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

and St John's College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in 1699. He seems to have lived chiefly at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

until he resigned his fellowship in 1708, and his pastorals were probably written in this period. He worked for Jacob Tonson the bookseller, and his ''Pastorals'' opened the sixth volume of Tonson's ''Miscellanies'' (1709), which also contained the pastorals of

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

. Philips was a staunch Whig, and a friend of

Richard Steele Sir Richard Steele (bap. 12 March 1672 – 1 September 1729) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright, and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine ''The Spectator''. Early life Steele was born in D ...

and

Joseph Addison Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richar ...

. In Nos. 22, 23, 30 and 32 (1713) of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' he was rashly praised as the only worthy successor to Edmund Spenser. The writer, probably

Thomas Tickell Thomas Tickell (17 December 1685 – 23 April 1740) was a minor English poet and man of letters. Life The son of a clergyman, he was born at Bridekirk near Cockermouth, Cumberland. He was educated at St Bees School 1695–1701, and in 1701 ente ...

, pointedly ignored Pope's pastorals. In ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' Addison applauded Philips for his simplicity, and for having written English

eclogue An eclogue is a poem in a classical style on a pastoral subject. Poems in the genre are sometimes also called bucolics. Overview The form of the word ''eclogue'' in contemporary English developed from Middle English , which came from Latin , wh ...

s unencumbered by the machinery of classical

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

. Pope's jealousy resulted in an anonymous contribution to the ''Guardian'' (No. 40), in which he drew an ironic comparison between his own and Philips's pastorals, censuring himself and praising Philips's worst passages. Philips is said to have threatened to hit Pope with a rod he kept hung up at Button's

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...

for the purpose. At Pope's request, John Gay burlesqued Philips's pastorals in his ''Shepherd's Week'', but the parody was admired for the very quality of simplicity which it was intended to ridicule. Samuel Johnson describes the relations between Pope and Philips as a perpetual reciprocation of malevolence. Pope lost no opportunity of mocking Philips, who figured in the ''Bathos'' and the ''Dunciad'', as Macer in the ''Characters''; and in the instructions to a porter how to find

Edmund Curll Edmund Curll (''c.'' 1675 – 11 December 1747) was an English bookseller and publisher. His name has become synonymous, through the attacks on him by Alexander Pope, with unscrupulous publication and publicity. Curll rose from poverty to wealt ...

's authors, Philips is a

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...

ic writer in red stockings. Others who ridiculed him included Henry Carey, who coined the nickname " Namby-Pamby" in the 1725 poem of that name: All ye poets of the age, All ye witlings of the stage … Namby-Pamby is your guide, Albion's joy, Hibernia's pride. Namby-Pamby, pilly-piss, Rhimy-pim'd on Missy Miss Tartaretta Tartaree From the navel to the knee; That her father's gracy grace Might give him a placy place. Pope's poem '' The Dunciad'' (1728) follows: "Beneath his reign, shall ... Namby Pamby be prefer'd for Wit!" Gay and

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...

also picked up the nickname, which became a general term for affected, weak, and maudlin speech or verse. In 1718, Philips started a Whig paper, ''The Free-Thinker'', in conjunction with

Hugh Boulter Hugh Boulter (4 January 1672 – 27 September 1742) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, the Primate of All Ireland, from 1724 until his death. He also served as the chaplain to George I from 1719. Background and education Boulter wa ...

, then vicar of St Olave's, Southwark. Philips had been made justice of the peace for

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, and in 1717 a commissioner for the lottery, and when Boulter was made Archbishop of Armagh, Philips accompanied him as secretary. Between 1727 and 1749, he sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

for Armagh Borough, was secretary to the lord chancellor in 1726, and in 1733 became a judge of the prerogative court. His patron died in 1742, and six years later Philips returned to London, where he died on 18 June 1749.

Works

His contemporary reputation rested on his pastorals and epistles, particularly the description of winter addressed by him from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

(1709) to the Earl of Dorset. In T. H. Ward's ''English Poets'', however, he is represented by two of the simple and charming pieces addressed to the infant children of John Carteret, 2nd Lord Carteret, and of Daniel Pulteney. These were scoffed at by

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...

, and earned for Philips the nickname of "Namby-Pamby" as described above. Philips's works include an abridgment of Bishop

John Hacket John Hacket (Born Halket) (1 September 1592 – 28 October 1670) was an English churchman, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry from 1661 until his death. Life He was born in London and educated at Westminster and Trinity College, Cambridge. On ta ...

's ''Life of John Williams'' (1700); ''The Thousand and One Days: Persian Tales'' (1722), from the French of F Pétis de la Croix; three plays: ''The Distrest Mother'' (1712), an adaptation of Racine's ''

Andromaque ''Andromaque'' is a tragedy in five acts by the French playwright Jean Racine written in alexandrine verse. It was first performed on 17 November 1667 before the court of Louis XIV in the Louvre in the private chambers of the Queen, Marie Thérès ...

''; '' The Briton'' (1722); ''

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester (3 October 139023 February 1447) was an English prince, soldier, and literary patron. He was (as he styled himself) "son, brother and uncle of kings", being the fourth and youngest son of Henry IV of E ...

'' (1723). Many of his poems, which included some translations from Sappho,

Anacreon Anacreon (; grc-gre, Ἀνακρέων ὁ Τήϊος; BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ...

and

, were published separately, and a collected edition appeared in 1748.

References

Sources

* *

External links

* * *
Ambrose Philips
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)

Ambrose Philips pastorals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philips, Ambrose 1674 births 1749 deaths Irish MPs 1727–1760 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Armagh constituencies People educated at Shrewsbury School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge English male poets Irish ecclesiastical judges