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''The Village'' is a narrative poem by
''The Village'' is a narrative poem by George Crabbe
George Crabbe ( ; 24 December 1754 – 3 February 1832) was an English poet, surgeon and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people.
In the 177 ...
, published in 1783. The poem contrasts the traditional representation of the rural idyll
An idyll (, ; from Greek , ''eidullion'', "short poem"; occasionally spelt ''idyl'' in American English) is a short poem, descriptive of rustic life, written in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the ''Idylls'' (Εἰδύλλια).
U ...
in Augustan poetry
In Latin literature, Augustan poetry is the poetry that flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus as Roman Emperor, Emperor of Rome, most notably including the works of Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. In English literature, Augustan poetry is a b ...
with the realities of village life.
History
In early 1781 Crabbe wrote a letter to statesman and authorEdmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
asking for help, in which he included samples of his poetry. Among the samples that Crabbe sent to Burke were pieces of his poems ''The Library'' and ''The Village'' which Burke viewed favourably, giving Crabbe a gift of money to relieve his immediate wants, and assuring him that he would do all in his power to further Crabbe's literary career. ''The Village'' was published in May 1783.
Critical reception
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
said of the poem in a letter to Reynolds Reynolds may refer to:
Places Australia
*Hundred of Reynolds, a cadastral unit in South Australia
*Hundred of Reynolds (Northern Territory), a cadastral unit in the Northern Territory of Australia
United States
* Reynolds, Mendocino County, Calif ...
, "I have sent you back Mr. Crabbe's poem, which I read with great delight. It is original, vigorous, and elegant." Johnson's friend and biographer James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...
also praised ''The Village''. It was said at the time of publication that Johnson had made extensive changes to the poem, but Boswell responded by saying that "the aid given by Johnson to the poem, as to '' The Traveller'' and ''Deserted Village
An abandoned village is a village that has, for some reason, been deserted. In many countries, and throughout history, thousands of villages have been deserted for a variety of causes. Abandonment of villages is often related to epidemic, f ...
'' of Goldsmith, were so small as by no means to impair the distinguished merit of the author."Ainger (1903) p. 46
References
Sources
* *External links
* * 1783 poems Poetry by George Crabbe {{Poem-stub