William Walsh was born on 6 October 1662 at Abberley Hall in Worcestershire, into a world in which inherited land, family connection, political loyalty, and literary cultivation could reinforce one another. He died on 15 March 1708, only forty-five years old, having lived as a country gentleman, Member of Parliament, court servant, poet, playwright, critic, and, perhaps most memorably, an early patron and adviser of…
“An epigram, it is true, is but a trifle, but so difficult a trifle that Rapin says it is enough to have made one good in one's lifetime.”
Neighbourhood:
Augustan Poets, Light Verse Poets, Love Poets, Restoration Poets
Emotional landscape: Sorrow, Despair, Longing
There is something peculiarly poignant about a poet who burns with such fierce satirical energy, who seems to embody the very spirit of angry, impatient youth, and who then dies at thirty years old — as if the intensity of the flame had consumed the wick. John Oldham lived only three decades, yet in that brief span he produced a body of work remarkable for its ferocity, its metrical daring, and its willingness to dra…
“Lord of myself, accountable to none, but to my conscience, and my God alone.”
Neighbourhood:
Death & Mortality, Restoration Poets, Satirical Poets
Emotional landscape: Tenderness, Wonder, Spirituality
