William Thompson (poet)

Rev. William Thompson (1712 - 1766) was an 18th-century English poet.

For other people named William Thompson, see William Thompson (disambiguation).

Life

William Thompson was the son of Rev. Francis Thompson, vicar of Brough in Westmoreland, NW England, who died in 1735; William's date of birth is not known.[1] William Thompson studied at Queen's College, Oxford, which his father had also attended, and graduated with a Master of Arts in 1738, afterwards becoming a fellow of the college.[2]

Thompson became rector of Hampton Poyle with South Weston in Oxfordshire.[3] He published his collected poems in two volumes in 1757.[4]

Work

He is best known for the long poem Sickness (1746), which discusses various illnesses including melancholy, fever, consumption, and variola.[5] Other poems include Epithalamium, Nativity, and Hymn to May, as well as a panegyric to Alexander Pope.[6]

Footnotes
  1. Richard Alfred Davenport, "The Life of William Thompson," in The British Poets, Vol. LVI. Chiswick, 1822; pg. 7.
  2. Davenport, "The Life of William Thompson," pp. 8-9.
  3. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Thompson, William (1712?-1766?)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 56. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  4. Davenport, "The Life of William Thompson," pg. 10.
  5. Davenport, "The Life of William Thompson," pp. 12-13.
  6. Davenport, "The Life of William Thompson," pg. 14.


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