Thomas Yalden (2 January 1670 – 16 July 1736) was an
English
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* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
poet and translator. Educated at
Magdalen College
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
, Yalden entered the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
, in which he obtained various preferments. His poems include ''A Hymn to Darkness'', ''Pindaric Odes'', and translations from the classics.
Early life and education
Yalden was born in 1670 in the city of
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
[ ] and was the sixth son of Mr. John Yalden of
Sussex. Having been educated in the grammar-school belonging to Magdalen College there, he was in 1690, at the age of nineteen, admitted commoner of Magdalen Hall, under the tuition of
Josiah Pullen. The next year, he became one of the scholars of Magdalen College, where he was distinguished by a lucky accident.
It was his turn one day to pronounce a declamation, and Dr.
John Hough, the president, happening to attend, thought the composition too good to be the speaker's. Some time after, the doctor, finding him a little irregularly busy in the library, gave him a writing exercise for punishment, and, that he might not be deceived by any artifice, locked the door. Yalden, as it happened, had been lately reading on the subject given, and produced with little difficulty a composition, which so pleased the president that he told him his former suspicions, and promised to favour him.
Among his contemporaries in the college were
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 ...
and
Henry Sacheverell
Henry Sacheverell (; 8 February 1674 – 5 June 1724) was an English high church Anglican clergyman who achieved nationwide fame in 1709 after preaching an incendiary 5 November sermon. He was subsequently impeached by the House of Commons and ...
, men who were in those times friends, and who both adopted Yalden to their intimacy. Yalden continued throughout his life to think as probably he thought at first, yet did not lose the friendship of Addison.
Career and works
When Namur was taken by
William III of England
William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic f ...
, Yalden created an ode. There was never any reign more celebrated by the poets than that of William, who had very little regard for song himself, but happened to employ ministers who pleased themselves with the praise of patronage.
Of this ode mention is made in a humorous poem of that time, called "The Oxford Laureat", in which, after many claims had been made and rejected, Yalden is represented as demanding the laurel, and as being called to his trial instead of receiving a reward. 'His crime was for being a felon in verse, And presenting his theft to the king; The first was a trick not uncommon or scarce, But the last was an impudent thing: Yet what he had stol'n was so little worth stealing, They forgave him the damage and cost; Had he ta'en the whole ode, as he took it piece-mealing, They had fin'd him but ten pence at most.' The poet whom he was charged with robbing was
William Congreve
William Congreve (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) was an English playwright and poet of the Restoration period. He is known for his clever, satirical dialogue and influence on the comedy of manners style of that period. He was also a mi ...
.
He wrote another poem on the death of the
Duke of Gloucester.
In 1710, Yalden became fellow of the college; and next year, entering into orders, he was briefly
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of
Sopworth
Sopworth is a small village and civil parish in northwest Wiltshire, England, on the county's border with Gloucestershire. The village lies about west of Sherston, Wiltshire, Sherston and west of Malmesbury. The parish is within the Cotswolds ...
, Wiltshire, before being presented by the society with a living in
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...
, consistent with his fellowship, and chosen lecturer of
moral philosophy
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ...
, a very honourable office.
On the accession of
Queen Anne, he wrote another poem; and is said to have declared himself of the party who had the honourable distinction of Highchurchmen.
In 1706, he was received into the family of the
Duke of Beaufort. Next year, he became
Doctor of Divinity, and soon after resigned his fellowship and lecture; and as a token of his gratitude gave the college a picture of their founder.
He was made rector of
Chalton and
Cleanville, two adjoining towns and benefices in
Hertfordshire, and had the prebends or sinecures of
Deans,
Hains, and
Pendles in Devonshire. He had before been chosen, in 1698, preacher of
Bridewell Hospital
Bridewell Palace in London was built as a residence of King Henry VIII and was one of his homes early in his reign for eight years. Given to the City of London Corporation by his son King Edward VI for use as an orphanage and place of corre ...
in London, upon the resignation of
Francis Atterbury.
Atterbury investigation
From this time he seems to have led a quiet and inoffensive life, till the clamour was raised about
Francis Atterbury's plot to capture the royal family. Every loyal eye was on the watch for abettors or partakers of the horrid conspiracy; and Dr. Yalden, having some acquaintance with the bishop, and being familiarly conversant with Kelly his secretary, fell under suspicion, and was taken into custody.
Upon his examination, he was charged with a dangerous correspondence with Kelly. The correspondence he acknowledged, but maintained that it had no treasonable tendency. His papers were seized; but nothing was found that could fix a crime upon him except two words in his pocket-book, 'thorough-paced doctrine'. This expression the imagination of his examiners had impregnated with treason, and the doctor was enjoined to explain them. Thus pressed, he told them that the words had lain unheeded in his pocket-book from the time of queen Anne, and that he was ashamed to give an account of them; but the truth was that he had gratified his curiosity one day by hearing
Daniel Burgess in the pulpit, and those words were a memorial hint of a remarkable sentence by which he warned his congregation to 'beware of thorough-paced doctrine, that doctrine which coming in at one ear passes through the head, and goes out at the other.
Nothing worse than this appearing in his papers and no evidence arising against him, he was set at liberty.
His character prevented him from attaining high dignities in the church; but he still retained the friendship and frequented the conversation of many interesting acquaintances. He died at age 66 on 16 July 1736 at Bridewell Hospital, where he was buried.
[
]
Hymn to Darkness
Of Yalden's poems, many are of that irregular kind which, when he formed his poetical character, was supposed to be Pindaric. Having fixed his attention on Abraham Cowley
Abraham Cowley (; 161828 July 1667) was an English poet and essayist born in the City of London late in 1618. He was one of the leading English poets of the 17th century, with 14 printings of his ''Works'' published between 1668 and 1721.
Early ...
as a model, he has attempted in some sort to rival him, and has written a "Hymn to Darkness", evidently as a counterpart to Cowley's "Hymn to Light" ("Hymnus in Lucem").
This hymn seems to be his best performance, and is for the most part imagined with great vigour and expressed with great propriety; in particular, the third, fourth, seventh, and tenth stanzas stand out.
There are two stanzas in this poem where Yalden may be suspected, though hardly convicted, of having consulted the "Hymnus ad Umbram" of Wowerus, in the sixth stanza, which answers in some sort to these lines:
:'Illa suo praeest nocturnis numine sacris-- Perque vias errare novis dat spectra figuris, Manesque excitos medios ululare per agros Sub noctem, et questu notos complere penates.' And again at the conclusion: 'Illa suo senium secludit corpore toto Haud numerans jugi fugientia secula lapsu, Ergo ubi postremum mundi compage solut? Hanc rerum molem suprema absumpserit hora, Ipsa leves cineres nube amplectetur opac? Et prisco imperio rursus dominabitur UMBRA.'
References
*Cousin, John W. (1910) ''A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature''
*Johnson, Samuel (1810) "The Life of Thomas Yalden." ''The Works of the English Poets from Chaucer to Cowper; including the Series Edited with Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, by Dr. Samuel Johnson: and the Most Approved Translations''. Ed. Alexander Chalmers. 21 Vols. London: C. Whittingham
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yalden, Thomas
Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford
People from Oxford
1670 births
1736 deaths
English translators
English male poets
English male non-fiction writers