ENGLISH POETRY 1700-1780

Offering a representative poem by each of twenty-one poets not usually read in extenso, this anthology seeks to completement the picture of eighteenth-century poetry afforded by the works of the major writers. The poems, most of which are printed in their entirely, include John Gay's mock-georgic Trivia or the Art of Walking the Streets of London; Matthew Prior's witty conversation-piece, Alma, or, The Progress of the Mind; Charles Churchill's critical survey of contemporary acting, The Rosciad; and Christopher Smart's celebration of the author of the psalms, works by another seventeen poets, including Isaac Watts, John Dyer, Richard Savage, John Byrom, James Macpherson, Mark Akenside and Thomas Chatterton. In a long introduction, Dr Lindsay offers a general account of poetic development from the death of Dryden to the first publications of Cowper and Crabbe, and to highlight the variety of interest and experiments quotes copiously from many poets of the time who are not included in the anthology. There is also a detailed commentary combining critical discussions of the poets represented with explanatory notes on the poems selected.