Aubrey de Vere

Aubrey Thomas de Vere (10 January 1814 - 20 January 1902) was an Irish poet and literary critic.

Life
De Vere was born at Curraghchase_Forest_Park, Kilcornan, County Limerick, the third son of Sir Aubrey de Vere Hunt (1788–1846) and younger brother to Stephen De Vere. In 1832 his father dropped the final name by royal licence. Sir Aubrey was himself a poet. Wordsworth called his sonnets the most perfect of the age. These and his drama, Mary Tudor, were published by his son in 1875 and 1884.

Aubrey Thomas de Vere was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and in his twenty-eighth year published The Waldenses, which he followed up in the next year by The Search after Proserpine. Thenceforward he was continually engaged, till his death in 1902, in the production of poetry and criticism.

He also wrote a picturesque volume of travel-sketches, and two dramas in verse, Alexander the Great (1874); and St Thomas of Canterbury (1876); both of which, though they contain fine passages, suffer from diffuseness and a lack of dramatic spirit. His best remembered poem is Inisfail.

Writing
The characteristics of Aubrey de Vere's poetry are high seriousness and a fine religious enthusiasm. His research in questions of faith led him to the Roman Catholic Church; and in many of his poems, notably in the volume of sonnets called St Peters Chains (1888), he made rich additions to devotional verse. He was a disciple of Wordsworth, whose calm meditative serenity he often echoed with great felicity; and his affection for Greek poetry, truly felt and understood, gave dignity and weight to his own versions of mythological idylls. But perhaps he will be chiefly remembered for the impulse which he gave to the study of Celtic legend and Celtic literature. In this direction he has had many followers, who have sometimes assumed the appearance of pioneers; but after Matthew Arnold's fine lecture on Celtic Literature, nothing perhaps did more to help the Celtic revival than Aubrey de Vere's tender insight into the Irish character, and his stirring reproductions of the early Irish epic poetry.

Recognition
His poems "Serenade" and "Sorrow" were included in the Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900.

Poetry

 * The Waldenses; or, The Fall of Rora., London: John Henry Parker; Rivingtons, 1842.
 * The Search after Proserpine and other poems. Oxford: J.H. Parker, 1843.
 * Poems. London: Burns & Lambert, 1855.
 * The Sisters, Innisfall and other poems. New York: Longmans Green, 1861.
 * Innisfall: a lyrical chronicle of Ireland. Dublin, 1863.
 * The Infant Bridal. London: Macmillan and Co., 1864.
 * May Carols. London: Longman, Brown, Green, 1867.
 * Irish Odes and other poems. : New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1869.
 * The Legends of St. Patrick. London: H.S. King, 1872.
 * Sonnets. London: Basil Montagu Pickering, 1875.
 * St. Thomas of Canterbury: a dramatic poem. London H.S. King, 1876.
 * The Fall of Rora, the Search after Proserpine, and other poems. London: H.S. King, 1877.
 * Legends of the Saxon Saints. London: C. Kegan Paul & Co., 1879.
 * Alexander the Great, St. Thomas of Canterbury, and other poems. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, 1884.
 * The Poetical Works of Aubrey de Vere. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, 1884.
 * The Legends of St Patrick. London: Cassell, 1889.
 * Selections from the Poems of Aubrey De Vere (edited with a preface by George Edward Woodberry). New York & London: Macmillan & Co., 1894.

Prose

 * Heroines of Charity. London: Burns and Lambert, 1854.
 * Secret Specimens of the English Poets. London: Burns & Lambert, 1858.
 * ""Ireland and Proportional Representation. Dublin, 1885.
 * Essays chiefly on Poetry. : London: Macmillan, 1887.
 * Criticisms on Certain Poets. London: Macmillan, 1887.
 * Essays chiefly Literary and Ethical. London: Macmillan, 1887.
 * Religious Problems of the Nineteenth Century. London, 1893.
 * Recollections of Aubrey Thomas de Vere. London: Arnold, 1897.

Edited

 * The Household Poetry Book. London: Burns & Oates, 1893.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.