John Philips
John Philips was an English poet born on December 30, 1676, in Bampton, Oxfordshire. He was educated at Winchester and Christ's Church, Oxford, where he developed a keen interest in the works of Roman poet Vergil and English poet John Milton. Philips is best known for his poem "The Splendid Shilling," composed in 1701, which cleverly parodies Milton's elevated style by portraying the struggles of a young man burdened by debt. This work, published without his consent, was later pirated, prompting Philips to release a corrected version himself. Additionally, he wrote "Blenheim: A Poem," commissioned in 1704 to celebrate the Duke of Marlborough's victories, although it was met with less acclaim than his parodic works. Philips continued to explore themes of nature and society in subsequent poems, including "Cerealia" and "Cyder," the latter focusing on apple farming and cider-making. Despite his initial popularity, Philips's literary legacy did not endure long after his death on February 15, 1708, at the age of thirty-one. Nevertheless, his contributions to mock-heroic poetry and parody had a significant impact on his contemporaries.
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John Philips
Poet
- Born: December 30, 1676
- Birthplace: Bampton, Oxfordshire, England
- Died: February 15, 1708
Biography
John Philips was born on December 30, 1676, in Bampton, Oxfordshire, England. His father, Dr. Stephen Philips was the archdeacon of Shropshire. Philips was educated at Winchester and Christ’s Church, Oxford.
While still a student, Philips developed a special interest in the Roman poet Vergil and the English poet John Milton. Philips composed his best-known work, The Splendid Shilling: A Poem, in Imitation of Milton in 1701. In this work, Philips used Miltonic blank verse, vocabulary, and conventions to tell the story of a young man in trouble with debt. The incongruity of the elevated Miltonic style and the decidedly unheroic subject matter illustrates Philips’s ability as a parodist. The poem was published without his permission in an anthology in 1701, and then once again pirated and published on its own in 1705. Philips later published his own corrected version in response.
In 1704, Robert Harley and Henry St. John hired Philips to write an account of the duke of Marlborough’s victories at Blenheim from a Tory perspective in response to the poem Campaign, written by Joseph Addison. Critics generally regard Philips’s poem Blenheim: A Poem, Inscrib’d to the Right Honourable Robert Harley, Esq. as an inferior piece of work, much preferring his parodies.
In 1706, Philips produced another poem in imitation of Milton, Cerealia: An Imitation of Milton. Again, the subject matter is incongruous with the elevated style; the topic of the poem is a debate beween Ceres and Bacchus over the various qualities of alcoholic beverages. He additionally wrote a poem in Latin, praising his patron St. John, noting his generosity. This poem was well-received by St. John and by critics who enjoyed its light and witty verses. His final work was a poem about apple farming and making cider, Cyder: A Poem—In Two Books, published in 1708. This work was in imitation of Vergil.
Philips did not enjoy good health or long life, however. He died of respiratory difficulties, perhaps tuberculosis or asthma, on February 15, 1708, at the age of thirty-one.
While Philips’s work was popular during his own lifetime, his fame was not long lasting. Nevertheless, he successfully transferred the style of Milton into the more humorous and satiric modes of the eighteenth century. Furthermore, his success at the mock-heroic epic and at parody was highly influential among poets of his day.