Joseph Warton
Joseph Warton (1722–1800) was an English poet, educator, and literary critic born in Dunsfold, Surrey. He was the son of Thomas Warton, a poet and Oxford professor, and received his B.A. from Oriel College, Oxford, in 1744. Warton initially served as a curate in his father's parish and went on to have a family, marrying twice and raising seven children. His literary career began with poetry published in the Gentleman's Magazine, and his first major collection, "Fashion: An Epistolary Satire to a Friend," was released in 1742. Known for his scholarship, Warton published a successful four-volume translation of Virgil's poetry in 1753 and became headmaster of Winchester College in 1766. His most significant work, "An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope," established him as a leading scholar on Alexander Pope. Warton’s poetry is distinguished by its imaginative qualities, diverging from the rational style of his predecessors and paving the way for themes embraced in the Romantic movement. He passed away in 1800 while preparing an edition of John Dryden's works.
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Joseph Warton
Literary Critic
- Born: April 1, 1722
- Birthplace: Dunsfold, Surrey, England
- Died: February 23, 1800
- Place of death: Wickham, Hampshire, England
Biography
Joseph Warton was born in April, 1722, at Dunsfold, Surrey, England. His father, Thomas Warton, was both a poet and a professor of poetry at Oxford University; his mother was Elizabeth Richardson Warton. In 1744, Warton received his B.A. degree from Oriel College, Oxford. He was ordained and became a curate in his father’s parish. In 1747, he married Mary Daman; they had seven children: Joseph, Anne, Thomas, John, Mary, Charlotte, and Jane. His wife died in 1722, and Warton married Charlotte Nicholas in 1773.
Warton’s first poetry was published in Gentleman’s Magazine in 1739. His style had changed dramatically by the time his first collection of poetry, Fashion: An Epistolary Satire to a Friend, was published in 1742. The volume has been described as “preromantic.” His father died in 1744, leaving Warton, the eldest son, as head of his family. In 1748, he published, for financial reasons, a volume of his father’s verse. In 1753, he published his four-volume translation of poetry written by the Roman poet Virgil, which proved to be a critical success.
Warton became second master of Winchester College in 1755, headmaster in 1766, and retired in 1793. His most well-known book, An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope, appeared in 1756, the first in his two-volume study of British poet Alexander Pope. The second volume of this study did not appear until 1782. Warton became the foremost scholar of Pope, editing a nine-volume collection of his work that was published in 1797. At the time of his death, Warton was working on an edition of work by English poet John Dryden.
Warton died on February 23, 1800. He earned more success as an editor and critic than he did as a poet. His poetry is noted primarily for its digression from the rationalistic, didactic style of Pope. In contrast, Warton’s poetry extolled the powers of the imagination, a theme that would be common in later Romantic poetry.