William Mason | |
|---|---|
 William Mason by William Doughty (oil on canvas, 1778) | |
| Born | 12 February 1724 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 7 April 1797 (aged 73) Aston, East Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Occupation(s) | English poet, editor and gardener |
William Mason (12 February 1724 – 7 April 1797) was an English poet, divine, amateur draughtsman, author, editor and gardener.
He was born in Hull and educated at Hull Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge. [1] He was ordained in 1754 and held a number of posts in the church.
In 1747, his poem "Musaeus, a Monody on the Death of Mr. Pope" was published to acclaim and quickly went through several editions. [2] Summarizing this poem, a threnody, William Lyon Phelps writes:
Musaeus was a monody on the death of Pope, and written in imitation of Milton's Lycidas. Different poets in Musaeus bewail Pope's death; Chaucer speaks in an imitation of old English, and Spenser speaks two stanzas after the metre of the Shepherd's Calendar and three stanzas in the style of the Fairy Queen. There is nothing remarkable about these imitations.... [3]
Among his other works are the historical tragedies Elfrida (1752) and Caractacus (1759) (both used in translation as libretti for 18th century operas: Elfrida - Paisiello and LeMoyne, Caractacus - Sacchini (as Arvire et Évélina ) and a long poem on gardening, The English Garden (three volumes, 1772–82). His garden designs included one for the Viscount Harcourt.
He entered the Church in 1754, and in 1762 became the precentor and canon of York Minster. [4]
He was the friend, executor, and biographer of Thomas Gray, who was a great influence on his own work. In 1775 The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W[illiam]. Mason. York, was published. [5] James Boswell said that in his Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) he "resolved to adopt and enlarge upon the excellent plan of Mr Mason, in his Memoirs of Gray." Mason was also a friend of Horace Walpole [6] and Joshua Reynolds.
Mason's artwork was considered worthy of showing at the Royal Academy between 1782 and 1786. [7] In 1785, he was William Pitt the Younger's choice to succeed William Whitehead as Poet Laureate but refused the honour.
Two of his works of scenes at the York racecourse, "A Country Racecourse with horses preparing to start" and "A Country Racecourse with horses running". were reproduced as mezzotint illustrations in 1786 by Francis Jukes in collaboration with Robert Pollard. [8] [9]
Memorial inscriptions for Mason may be found in the church at Aston near Rotherham where he was rector and at Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey. A cenotaph was also erected by Countess Harcourt in the gardens at Nuneham Courtenay. [3] [10]
He was the guardian of Francis Ferrand Foljambe during his minority. [11]
Thomas Gray was an English poet, letter-writer, and classical scholar at Cambridge University, being a fellow first of Peterhouse then of Pembroke College. He is widely known for his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, published in 1751.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1747.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1757.
David Mallet was a Scottish poet and dramatist.
William Whitehead was an English poet and playwright. He became Poet Laureate in December 1757 after Thomas Gray declined the position.
In Latin literature, Augustan poetry is the poetry that flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus as Emperor of Rome, most notably including the works of Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. In English literature, Augustan poetry is a branch of Augustan literature, and refers to the poetry of the 18th century, specifically the first half of the century. The term comes most originally from a term that George I had used for himself. He saw himself as an Augustus. Therefore, the British poets picked up that term as a way of referring to their endeavours, for it fit in another respect: 18th-century English poetry was political, satirical, and marked by the central philosophical problem of whether the individual or society took precedence as the subject of the verse.
Francis Fawkes (1720–1777) was an English poet and translator. He translated works by Anacreon, Sappho and other classical authors, modernised parts of the poems of Gavin Douglas, and was the author of the well-known song, The Brown Jug, and of two poems, Bramham Park and Partridge Shooting. His translation of the Argonautica in rhymed couplets appeared in 1780.
George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton,, known between 1751 and 1756 as Sir George Lyttelton, 5th Baronet, was a British statesman. As an author himself, he was also a supporter of other writers and as a patron of the arts made an important contribution to the development of 18th-century landscape design.
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is a poem by Thomas Gray, completed in 1750 and first published in 1751. The poem's origins are unknown, but it was partly inspired by Gray's thoughts following the death of the poet Richard West in 1742. Originally titled Stanzas Wrote in a Country Church-Yard, the poem was completed when Gray was living near the Church of St Giles, Stoke Poges. It was sent to his friend Horace Walpole, who popularised the poem among London literary circles. Gray was eventually forced to publish the work on 15 February 1751 in order to preempt a magazine publisher from printing an unlicensed copy of the poem.
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Francis Ferrand Foljambe (1749–1814) was a British landowner and M.P.
Joseph Spence was a historian, literary scholar and anecdotist, most famous for his collection of anecdotes that are an invaluable resource for historians of 18th-century English literature.
London is a poem by Samuel Johnson, produced shortly after he moved to London. Written in 1738, it was his first major published work. The poem in 263 lines imitates Juvenal's Third Satire, expressed by the character of Thales as he decides to leave London for Wales. Johnson imitated Juvenal because of his fondness for the Roman poet and he was following a popular 18th-century trend of Augustan poets headed by Alexander Pope that favoured imitations of classical poets, especially for young poets in their first ventures into published verse.
"Monody on the Death of Chatterton" was composed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1790 and was rewritten throughout his lifetime. The poem deals with the idea of Thomas Chatterton, a poet who committed suicide, as representing the poetic struggle.
Samuel Boyse was an Irish poet and writer who worked for Sir Robert Walpole and whose religious verses in particular were prized and reprinted in his time.
Sneyd Davies was an English poet, academic and churchman, archdeacon of Derby from 1755.
Hagley Park is the estate of Hagley Hall in Worcestershire, England. The grounds comprise 350 acres (1.4 km2) of undulating deer park on the lower slopes of the Clent Hills. They were redeveloped and landscaped between about 1739 and 1764, with follies designed by John Pitt, Thomas Pitt, James "Athenian" Stuart, and Sanderson Miller. Planned as part of an 18th-century enthusiasm for landscape gardening, especially among poets, the park brought many distinguished literary visitors to admire the views, as well as poetic tributes to their beauty and Classical taste.
Media related to William Mason (poet) at Wikimedia Commons
Works by or about William Mason at Wikisource 
Quotations related to William Mason (poet) at Wikiquote