Thomas Warton

Thomas Warton (9 January 1728 - 21 May 1790) was an English poet, literary historian, and literary critic. From 1785 to 1790 he was the Poet Laureate of Great Britain. He is sometimes called Thomas Warton the younger to distinguish him from his father Thomas Warton the elder.

Life
Warton was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, the son of poet Thomas Warton, the Elder, and younger brother of Joseph Warton. As a youngster, Warton demonstrated a strong predilection toward writing poetry, a skill he would continue to develop all of his life. Warton translated one of Martial's epigrams at nine, and wrote The Pleasures of Melancholy at seventeen.

His early education was given him by his father. At sixteen years of age he enrolled at Winchester College, later moving to Trinity College, Oxford. He graduated from Oxford in 1747, where he subsequently became a Fellow. Warton was selected as Poet Laureate of Oxford in 1747 and again in 1748. His duty in this post was to write a poem about a selected patroness of the University, which would be read to her on a specially appointed day.

Warton was appointed Professor of Poetry at the university in 1757, a post that he held for ten years.

In 1771 he was appointed rector of Kiddington in Oxfordshire, a post he held until his death.

In 1785, he was appointed Camden Professor of History, as well as Poet Laureate. He was a friend and rival of Samuel Johnson, and his poetry was greatly influenced by earlier English poets such as Chaucer, Drayton, Fairfax, and Spenser.

Among other important contributions, Warton, along with his brother, was among the first to argue that Sir Thopas, by Geoffrey Chaucer, was a parody. Warton contributed to the general project of the ballad revival. He was a general supporter of the poetry of Thomas Gray&mdash;a fact that Johnson satirized in his parody "Hermit hoar, in solemn cell." Among his minor works were an edition of Theocritus, a selection of Latin and Greek inscriptions, the humorous Oxford Companion to the Guide and Guide to the Companion (1762); lives of Sir Thomas Pope and Ralph Bathurst; and an Inquiry into the Authenticity of the Poems attributed to Thomas Rowley (1782).

Writing
In 1749, Warton penned The Triumph of Isis, a poem in praise of Oxford and the many students who had received their education there. Published anonymously, The Triumph of Isis rebutted William Mason’s Isis, an Elegy published the previous year, which was anything but flattering to Oxford.

Following the success of The Triumph of Isis, Warton wrote Newmarket, a Satire, which was followed by a collection of verses. His complete poetical works were included in an anthology that has been reissued.

Warton's first major academic work was Observations on the Faerie Queene of Spenser, published in 1754. He is, however, best known for the three-volume The History of English Poetry (1774–81), which covered the poetry of the 11th through the 16th centuries. Although the work was criticized for its many inaccuracies, it is nonetheless considered a highly important and influential historical tome.

In 1782 he wrote The History and Antiquities of Kiddington, an early example of English local history.

As a poet, Warton was more inclined toward light and humorous verse, odes, and sonnets. His sonnets helped to revive the form, which had fallen out of fashion.

He is remembered for his interest in primitivism, which was an important stage toward romanticism.

Poetry

 * The Pleasures of Melancholy: A poem. London: printed for R. Dodsley, 1747.
 * The Triumph of Isis. London: W. Owen, 1749.
 * New-market: A satire. London: printed for J. Newbery, 1751.
 * Poems: A new edition, with additions. London: Printed for T. Beckett, 1777.
 * Poems by Thomas Warton. London: printed for T. Beckett, 1779.
 * Poems by Thomas Warton, fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. London: Printed for G.G.J. & J. Robinson, 1789.
 * The Poems on Various Subjects of Thomas Warton: Now first collected. London : Printed for G.G.J. & J. Robinson, 1791.
 * The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Warton (edited by Richard Mant). Oxford, UK: Printed by Oxford University Press for W. Hanwell and J. Parker, 1802.
 * The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray, Thomas Parnell, William Collins, Matthew Green, and Thomas Warton (edited by Robert Aris Willmott). London: George Routledge, 1853.

Non-fiction

 * Observations on the 'Fairie Queene' of Spenser. (2 volumes), London : printed for R. & J. Dodsley / Oxford, UK: J. Fletcher,1762. Volume I, Volume II.
 * The History of English Poetry. London : printed for, and sold by J. Dodsley; J. Walter; T. Becket; J. Robson; G. Robinson, and J. Bew; and Messrs. Fletcher, at Oxford, 1774
 * The History of English Poetry. (2 volumes), London: Tegg, 1824.
 * The History of English Poetry: From the eleventh to the seventeenth century. (4 volumes), London: Ward Lock, 1875. ''Volume II
 * The History of English Poetry: From the twelfth to the close of the sixteenth century (edited by William Carew Hazlitt). 1871; New York: Haskell House, 1970.
 * An enquiry into the Authenticity of the Poems Attributed to Thomas Rowley. London: printed for J. Dodsley, 1782.
 * Specimen of a History of Oxfordshire. London: printed for J. Nichols; J. Robson; and C. Dilly; Mess. Fletchers, D. Prince and J. Cooke, at Oxford; And J. Merrill, at Cambridge, 1783.
 * reprinted as The History and Antiquities of Kiddington. London: J. Nichols, Son, & Bentley, 1815.
 * A History of English Poetry: An unpublished continuation. Los Angeles, CA: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, 1953.

Edited

 * [https://archive.org/details/unionorselectsco00wartuoft The Union; or, Select Scots and English poems''. Edinburgh: printed for Archibald Monro & David Murray, 1753; London: printed for R. Baldwin, 1759.
 * The Oxford Sausage; or, Select poetical pieces. Oxford, UK: printed for G. Robinson & E. Newbury, London ; W. Dawson, Oxford; and sold by the Booksellors of Oxford and Cambridge; [1772?]

Letters

 * The Correspondence of Thomas Warton (edited by David Fairer). Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1995.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

Poems by Thomas Warton

 * To the River Lodon