1758 in poetry

List of years in poetry (table)
In literature
1755
1756
1757
1758
1759
1760
1761

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).

Events

Works published

United Kingdom

English, Colonial America

Other

Oliver Goldsmith's "poetical scale"

In the January 1758 edition of the Literary Magazine, an anonymous writer widely believed to be English poet and author Oliver Goldsmith presented a table comparing 29 English poets, rating them on a scale in each of four aspects of literary greatness.[4] A score of 20 was literary perfection.[5] Some of his estimations:[4]

Genius Judgement Learning Versification
Geoffrey Chaucer 16 12 10 14
Edmund Spenser 18 12 14 18
William Shakespeare 19 14 14 19
Ben Jonson 16 18 17 8
Abraham Cowley 17 17 15 17
Edmund Waller 12 12 10 16
John Milton 18 16 17 18
John Dryden 18 16 17 18
Joseph Addison 16 18 17 17
Matthew Prior 16 16 15 17
Alexander Pope 18 18 15 19

Some other poets Goldsmith placed on the scale: Michael Drayton, Lee, Aaron Hill, Nicholas Rowe, Garth, Southern and Hughes. John Donne was not listed, because, wrote Goldsmith, "Dr Donne was a man of wit, but he seems to have been at pains not to pass for a poet."[6] (See also Mark Akenside's "Balance of Poets" of 1746.)

Births

Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:

Deaths

Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Cox, Michael, editor, The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature, Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-19-860634-6
  2. Ludwig, Richard M., and Clifford A. Nault, Jr., Annals of American Literature: 16021983, 1986, New York: Oxford University Press
  3. Davis, Cynthia J., and Kathryn West, Women Writers in the United States: A Timeline of Literary, Cultural, and Social History, Oxford University Press US, 1996 ISBN 978-0-19-509053-6, retrieved via Google Books on February 7, 2009
  4. 1 2 Mark Van Doren, John Dryden: A Study of His Poetry, pp 249-250, Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, second edition, 1946 ("First Midland Book edition 1960")
  5. Prior, James, The Life of Oliver Goldsmith, M. B.: from a variety of original sources p 231, London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1837, retrieved via Google Books on February 11, 2010
  6. John Donne: The Critical Heritage, Volume 1, p 236, Routledge, 1996, ISBN 978-0-415-13412-5, retrieved via Google Books on February 11, 2010
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