Overview
The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland is an early biographical history of English-language poets, mixing literary criticism with stories about the people who produced the poems. Volume I preserves an older way of understanding literary greatness: a poet’s work is interpreted…
This title is catalogued in Classics & Literature. Its reading profile is Medium and Moderate, with themes including literature, learning, ideas, history.
One-Page Summary
The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland is an early biographical history of English-language poets, mixing literary criticism with stories about the people who produced the poems. Volume I preserves an older way of understanding literary greatness: a poet’s work is interpreted alongside anecdotes about personality, education, friendships, money, reputation, and moral character. Biography becomes a means of explaining literature. The collection is valuable today partly because its judgments differ from modern literary history. Some poets once considered important have faded from view; others later became central to the canon.
The volume therefore shows how literary reputation is constructed and reconstructed.
Key Themes
Literature: This title is tagged with literature as one of its main themes.
Learning: This title is tagged with learning as one of its main themes.
Ideas: This title is tagged with ideas as one of its main themes.
History: This title is tagged with history as one of its main themes.