The story of James Hogg is one of the most remarkable and unlikely ascents in the history of British literature. Born into the humblest of circumstances in the wilds of the Scottish Borders, he rose from a life of manual labour to stand, albeit often awkwardly, alongside the literary giants of his age. He was a man of profound contradictions: a self-taught genius who could be as coarse as he was inspired, a humble sh…
“A shepherd may be a very able, trusty, and good shepherd, without a sweetheart—better, perhaps, than with one. But what is he without his dog?”
Neighbourhood:
Georgian Poets, Nature Poets, Romantic Poets, Scottish Poets
Emotional landscape: Fear, Despair, Wonder
John Kenyon, born on 2 December 1784 in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, and dead on 3 December 1856 at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, was a minor poet of the Romantic and early Victorian periods but a major presence in the social history of English literature. His own poems, polished, conscientious, and occasionally touching, have never commanded the attention given to the work of his celebrated friends. Yet Kenyon’s life mat…
Neighbourhood:
Romantic Poets, Victorian Poets, Women Poets
Emotional landscape: Joy, Sensuality, Wonder
