Crabbe, George

Crabbe, George
(1754-1832)
   Poet, b. at Aldborough, Suffolk, where his f. was collector of salt dues, he was apprenticed to a surgeon, but, having no liking for the work, went to London to try his fortune in literature. Unsuccessful at first, he as a last resource wrote a letter to Burke enclosing some of his writings, and was immediately befriended by him, and taken into his own house, where he met Fox, Reynolds, and others. His first important work, The Library, was pub. in 1781, and received with favour. He took orders, and was appointed by the Duke of Rutland his domestic chaplain, residing with him at Belvoir Castle. Here in 1783 he pub. The Village, which established his reputation, and about the same time he was presented by Lord Thurlow to two small livings. He was now secured from want, made a happy marriage, and devoted himself to literary and scientific pursuits. The Newspaper appeared in 1785, and was followed by a period of silence until 1807, when he came forward again with The Parish Register, followed by The Borough (1810), Tales in Verse (1812), and his last work, Tales of the Hall (1817-18). In 1819 Murray the publisher gave him £3000 for the last named work and the unexpired copyright of his other poems. In 1822 he visited Sir Walter Scott at Edinburgh. Soon afterwards his health began to give way, and he d. in 1832. C. has been called "the poet of the poor." He describes in simple, but strong and vivid, verse their struggles, sorrows, weaknesses, crimes, and pleasures, sometimes with racy humour, oftener in sombre hues. His pathos, sparingly introduced, goes to the heart; his pictures of crime and despair not seldom rise to the terrific, and he has a marvellous power of painting natural scenery, and of bringing out in detail the beauty and picturesqueness of scenes at first sight uninteresting, or even uninviting. He is absolutely free from affectation or sentimentality, and may be regarded as one of the greatest masters of the realistic in our literature. With these merits he has certain faults, too great minuteness in his pictures, too frequent dwelling upon the sordid and depraved aspects of character, and some degree of harshness both in matter and manner, and not unfrequently a want of taste.
   Life prefixed to ed. of works by his son (1834), Ainger (Men of Letters, 1903). Works (Ward, 3 vols., 1906-7).

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  • Crabbe,George — Crabbe (krăb), George. 1754 1832. British poet noted for his simple, realistic poems of middle class life, including The Village (1783). * * * …   Universalium

  • Crabbe, George — born Dec. 24, 1754, Aldeburgh, Suffolk, Eng. died Feb. 3, 1832, Trowbridge, Wiltshire English poet. Reared in an impoverished seacoast village, Crabbe initially became a surgeon. In 1780 he left for London, where his poem The Village (1783)… …   Universalium

  • Crabbe, George — (24 dic. 1754, Aldeburgh, Suffolk, Inglaterra–3 feb. 1832, Trowbridge, Wiltshire). Poeta inglés. Creció en un humilde pueblo costero y aprendió el oficio de cirujano. En 1780 se trasladó a Londres, donde su poema The Village [La aldea] (1783) le… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Crabbe, George — (1754 1832)    Born in the village of Aldeburgh, Suffolk, where his father worked as a customs official. He was chiefly self educated, largely through his father s Martin s Philosophical Magazine, which he bought for the mathematical part; the… …   British and Irish poets

  • CRABBE, GEORGE —    an English poet, born at Aldborough, in Suffolk; began life as apprentice to an apothecary with a view to the practice of medicine, but having poetic tastes, he gave up medicine for literature, and started for London with a capital of three… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • George Crabbe — George Crabbe. Monument in St James Church, Trowbridge …   Wikipedia

  • George Crabbe — George Crabbe. George Crabbe (Aldeburgh, 24 de diciembre de 1754 Trowbridge, 3 de febrero de 1832) fue un poeta y naturalista inglés. Nació en Aldeburgh, Suffolk, hijo de un recaudador de impuestos, y desarrolló su amor hacia la poesía de …   Wikipedia Español

  • CRABBE (G.) — CRABBE GEORGE (1754 1832) Né à Aldeburgh, petit port sur la côte du Suffolk, le jeune George Crabbe écoutait son père, percepteur des taxes sur le sel, lire les poèmes de Milton et de Young à haute voix à la veillée et peut être prend il ainsi… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • George — George, David Lloyd George, Henry George, Pierre George, Stefan * * * (as used in expressions) Aberdeen, George Hamilton Gordon, 4 conde de George William Russell Akerlof, George A. Alexander, Harold (Rupert Leofric George) Alexander, 1 conde… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • George Crabbe — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Crabbe. George Crabbe. George Crabbe est un poète et un entomologiste britannique, né le 24 décembre …   Wikipédia en Français

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