Classic Poetry Series George Crabbe - poems - Publication Date: 2011 Publisher: Poemhunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive George Crabbe(24 December 1754 - 3 February 1832) George Crabbe was an English poet and clergyman. In his early years he worked as a surgeon. As a young man, his close friend Edmund Burke helped him greatly in advancing his literary career and guiding his career in the church. Burke introduced him to the literary and artistic society of London, including Sir Joshua Reynolds and <a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/samuel-johnson/">Samuel Johnson</a>. Burke also secured Crabbe the important position of Chaplain to the Duke of Rutland. Crabbe served as a clergyman in various capacities for the rest of his life. Later, he developed friendships with many of the great literary men of his day, such as <a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/sir-walter- scott/">Sir Walter Scott</a> and <a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/william-wordsworth/">William Wordsworth</a>. Crabbe also had a lifelong interest in naturalism, entomology and botany, and was particularly known for his study of beetles. The poems that he is best known for are The Village (1783) and The Borough (1810). <b>Biography</b> <b>Early Life</b> Crabbe was born in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. His father had been a teacher at a village school in Orford, Suffolk, and later Norton, near Loddon, Norfolk, before settling down as a taxcollector for salt duties, a position his own father had previously a young man he married an older widow named Craddock, fathering six children with her. George was his eldest son. George spent his first 25 years close to his birthplace. He showed an aptitude for books and learning at an early age. He was sent to school while still very young, and developed an interest for the stories and ballads that were popular among his neighbors. His father owned a few books, and used to read passages from John Milton and other 18th century poets to George and the family. He also subscribed to a country magazine called Martin's Philosophical Magazine, giving the "poet's corner" section to George. George's father also had interests in the local fishing industry, and owned a fishing boat. He had first thought of raising George to be a seaman, but soon found that the boy had little proclivity for such a career. George's father respected his son's interest in literature, and George was sent first to a boarding-school at Bungay near his home, and a few years later to a more important school at Stowmarket, where he gained an understanding of www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 1 Mathematics and Latin and familiarity with the Latin classics. His early reading included the works of <a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/william- shakespeare/">William Shakespeare</a>, <a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/alexander-pope/">Alexander Pope</a>, who had a great influence on George's future works, <a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/abraham-cowley/">Abraham Cowley</a>, <a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/sir-walter-raleigh/">Sir Walter Raleigh</a> and <a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/edmund- spenser/">Edmund Spenser</a>. He spent 3 years at Stowmarket before leaving school to find a physician to be apprenticed to, as medicine had been settled on as his future career. In 1768 he was apprenticed to a local doctor at Wickhambrook, near Bury St Edmunds. This doctor practiced medicine while also keeping a small farm, and George ended up doing more farm labour and errands than medical work. In 1771 he changed masters and moved to Woodbridge. He remained here until 1775. While at Woodbridge he joined a small club of young men who met on certain evenings at an inn for discussions. Through his contacts at Woodbridge he met his future wife, Sarah Elmy. Crabbe called her "Mira", later referring to her by this name in some of his poems. During this time he had begun practicing writing poetry. In 1772 A lady's magazine offered a prize for the best poem on the subject of hope, which Crabbe won. The same magazine printed other short pieces of Crabbe's throughout 1772. They were signed "G. C., Woodbridge," and included some of his lyrics addressed to Mira. Other known verses written while he was at Woodbridge show that he made experiments in stanza form modeled on the works of earlier English poets, but only showing some slight imitative skill. <b>1775 to 1785</b> His first major work, a satirical poem of nearly 400 lines in Pope's couplet form entitled Inebriety, was self-published in 1775. Crabbe later said of the poem, which garnered little or no attention at the time, "Pray let not this be seen... there is very little of it that I'm not heartily ashamed of." By this time he had completed his medical training and had returned home to Aldeburgh. He had intended to go on to London to study at a hospital, but he was forced through low finances to work for some time as a local warehouseman. He eventually travelled to London in 1777 to practice medicine, returning home in financial difficulty after a year. Crabbe continued to practice as a surgeon after returning to Aldeburgh, but his surgical skills remained deficient, he attracted only the poorest patients, and his fees were small and undependable. This hurt his chances of an early marriage, but Sarah stayed devoted to him. www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 2 In late 1779 he formed the resolution to go to London and see if he could make it as a poet, or, if that failed, as a doctor. In April 1780, he went to London, where he had little success, and by the end of May he had been forced to pawn some of his possessions, including his surgical instruments. He composed a number of works but was refused publication. He also wrote several letters seeking patronage, but his requests for assistance were also refused. In June Crabbe witnessed some of the mob violence that occured during the Gordon Riots, recording them in a journal he kept. He was able to publish a poem at this time entitled The Candidate, but it was badly received by critics. He continued to rack up debts that he had no way of paying, and his creditors pressed him. He later told Walter Scott and John Gibson Lockhart that "during many months when he was toiling in early life in London he hardly ever tasted butchermeat except on a Sunday, when he dined usually with a tradesman's family, and thought their leg of mutton, baked in the pan, the perfection of luxury." In early 1781 he wrote a letter to Edmund Burke asking for help, in which he included samples of his poetry. Burke was swayed by Crabbe's letter and a subsequent meeting with him, giving him a gift of money to relieve his immediate wants, and assuring him that he would do all in his power to further Crabbe's literary career. Among the samples that Crabbe had sent to Burke were pieces of his poems The Library and The Village. A short time after their first meeting Burke told his friend Sir Joshua Reynolds that he had "the mind and feelings of a gentleman." Burke gave Crabbe the footing of a friend, admitting him to his family circle at Beaconsfield. There he was given an apartment, supplied with books, and made a member of the family. The time he spent with Burke and his family helped in enlarging his knowledge and ideas, and introducing him to many new and valuable friends including Charles James Fox and Samuel Johnson. He completed his unfinished poems and revised others with the help Burke's criticism. Burke helped him have his poem, The Library, published anonymously in June 1781, by a publisher that had previously refused some of his work. The Library was greeted with a small amount of praise from critics, and only slight public appreciation. Through their friendship, Burke discovered that Crabbe was much more fit to be a clergyman than a surgeon. Crabbe had a good knowledge of Latin, a natural piety that was evident to all of his acquaintances, and was well read in the scriptures. He was ordained to the curacy of his native town on 21 December 1781 through Burke's recommendation. He returned to live in Aldeburgh with his sister and father, his mother having died in his absence. Crabbe was surprised to find that he was poorly treated by his fellow townsmen, who were jealous and resentful of his rise in social class. With Burke's help, Crabbe was able to leave www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 3 his position in Aldeburgh and become chaplain to the Duke of Rutland at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. This was an unusual move on Burke's part, as this kind of preferment would usually have been given to a family member or personal friend of the Duke or through political interest, and shows Burke's confidence in Crabbe. Crabbe's experience as Chaplain at Belvoir wasn't altogether a happy one. He was treated with kindness by the Duke and Duchess, but his slightly unpolished manners and his position as a literary dependent made his relations with others in the Duke's house difficult, especially the servants. His experience here wasn't all negative though. The Duke and Duchess and many of their noble guests shared an interest in Crabbe's literary talent and work.