James Boswell, Poems

Ian McGowan (University of Stirling)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1758 - 1791

Places

Scotland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poem collection

Resources

Although Boswell is best known as a prose writer and there is no comprehensive edition of his poems, he was a prolific if miscellaneous versifier all his life. Many earlier pieces c. 1758-62 were printed from the Bodleian MS as Boswell's Book of Bad Verse (1974). These are obviously youthful productions – amorous, literary (prologues to plays), exercises in a variety of metrical and rhyming forms – none perhaps of lasting worth, but reflecting their lively gentleman-author and the peculiarly clubbable and literary environment of Scots lawyers. “A Poetical Epistle to Doctor Sterne, Parson Yorick and Tristram Shandy”, celebrates his meeting with the newly-famous clergyman-author:

My verses, be they good o…

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195 words

Citation: McGowan, Ian. "Poems". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 January 2001 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2714, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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