Both brothers were well connected and influential . Thomas became a member of Johnson ’ s dining circle , The Club , though when Warton ’ s poems were published in 1777 , Johnson described them as : |
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Rebellion might not have triumphed in Winchester , but a new aesthetic was undoubtedly already in place . Joseph Warton ( 1722-1800 ) was appointed Headmaster in 1766 . Educated at Winchester and Oriel College , Oxford , he published ‘ The Enthusiast ’ ( 1744 ), and Odes on Various Subjects ( 1746 ), becoming Second Master in 1755 , and serving as Headmaster until 1793 . Joseph both inherited and begat a poetic heritage . The son of a poet , he was also an influential poet and critic himself . His father , Thomas Warton the Elder ( c . 1688-1745 ), was Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1718 to 1728 : his Poems on Several Occasions were posthumously published , under Joseph ’ s supervision , in 1748 . Joseph ’ s brother , Thomas Warton theYounger ( 1728-90 ), was perhaps also educated at Winchester , followed by Trinity College , Oxford , in 1744 . Thereafter his home was Trinity College in term time , and Winchester College , with his brother , in the holidays , fairly frequently acting as a Lord of Misrule . He served as Professor of Poetry from 1756 to 1766 , and published his History of English Poetry from 1744 to 1781 . Appointed Poet Laureate in 1785 , he became Camden Professor of History in the same year . His influential Essays on Gothic Architecture were published in 1802 .
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Joseph Warton , by Sir Joshua Reynolds . |
Phrase that Time has flung away , Uncouth words in disarray , Trick ’ d in Antique Ruff and Bonnet Ode and Elegy and sonnet .
Both brothers rebelled against conventional poetic theories . A Romantic before his time , Joseph worked to supplant the “ School of Pope ” and re-establish a native line of English poetry , running : Chaucer / Spenser / Shakespeare / early Milton . “ The author … is convinced that the fashion of moralising in verse has been carried too far ”, he wrote in the advertisement to Odes on Various Subjects . “ He looks upon invention and imagination to be the chief faculties of a poet ”, he argued in his Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope ( 1756 ). “ The most solid observations on human life , expressed with the utmost elegance and brevity , are morality , and not poetry … it is a creative and glowing imagination , and that alone , that can stamp a writer .” Joseph had a distinctive view of English literature . Aged 17 , he started a notebook entitled Essay on Romantic Poetry . Essentially , he can be credited with the invention of the word Romantic .
If Joseph produced a distinctive critical voice , Thomas theYounger produced what has been termed as the most influential sonnet of the century :
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A Literary Party at Sir Joshua Reynolds ’ s , by D . George Thompson ;
© National Portrait Gallery , London .
‘ To the River Loddon ’ AH ! what a weary race my feet have run , Since first I trod thy banks with alders crown ’ d , And thought my way was all through fairy ground , Beneath thy azure sky , and golden sun : Where first my Muse to lisp her notes begun ! While pensive Memory traces back the round , Which fills the varied interval between ; Much pleasure , more of sorrow , marks the scene . Sweet native stream ! those skies and suns so pure No more return , to cheer my evening road ! Yet still one , joy remains : that nor obscure , Nor useless all my vacant days have flow ’ d , From youth ’ s gay dawn to manhood ’ s prime mature ; Nor with the Muse ’ s laurel unbestow ’ d .
This sonnet was to prove a source to be joined by multiple tributaries .
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