Laurence Eusden was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 who became Poet Laureate

Poet Laureate

A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

 in 1718.

Life

Laurence Eusden was born in Spofforth in the North Riding of Yorkshire

North Riding of Yorkshire

The North Riding of Yorkshire was one of the three historic subdivisions of the English county of Yorkshire, alongside the East and West Ridings. From the Restoration it was used as a Lieutenancy area. The three ridings were treated as three counties for many purposes, such as having separate...

 in 1688 (date unknown) to the Rev. Laurence Eusden, rector of Spofforth, Yorkshire. Eusden was baptized on 6 September 1688. He received his education at St Peter's School, York

St Peter's School, York

St Peter's School is a co-educational independent boarding and day school located in the English City of York, with extensive grounds on the banks of the River Ouse...

, and at Trinity College

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

, Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

. He became a minor fellow of his college in 1711, and in the next year was admitted to a full fellowship.

Early on, Eusden had decided upon building a career through influence. For someone like him, well-educated, with a fellowship at Trinity, but without family money and without well-placed relations, there was no other way to advance in the world. He began to write, with the intention of using his ability to attract notice to himself. And with Newcastle's marriage he succeeded, as he was made Poet Laureate in 1718 by the Lord Chamberlain

Lord Chamberlain

The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....

, Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, as a reward for a flattering poem on Pelham-Holles' marriage.

Eusden, who was thirty years-old at the time of his appointment was also the youngest Poet Laureate. Eusden secured this post due to the death of the previous Poet Laureate, Nicholas Rowe

Nicholas Rowe (dramatist)

Nicholas Rowe , English dramatist, poet and miscellaneous writer, was appointed Poet Laureate in 1715.-Life:...

, and the recommendation of Joseph Addison

Joseph Addison

Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...

. Upon his appointment, Eusden produced Birthday and New Year Odes for twelve years.

The last few years of his life were unhappy. He was ordained as a cleric in the 1720s, and assumed the office of rector of Coningsby

Coningsby

Coningsby is a village in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.-Geography:Taking its name from the Old Norse 'konungr' meaning 'King' with an Old Norse suffix 'by' meaning 'the settlement of' which gives Coningsby the meaning 'The Settlement of the King'...

, Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

, but his elevation to Poet Laureate brought him derision from his social and literary peers. Eusden died at Coningsby on 27 September 1730.

Poetry and Criticism

Eusden's work is difficult to find. However, his The Origin Of The Knights Of The Bath, dedicated to the young William Augustus, later Duke of Cumberland, is available online. Its first twelve lines are reproduced below as an instance of Eusden's laudatory style:

The Origin Of The Knights Of The Bath
HAIL glorious Off-spring of a glorious Race! Britannias other Hope, and blooming Grace! Thou smil'st already on the burnish'd Shield, And thy weak Hand the little Sword can wield: Already, clad in Arms, Thou mov'st along, The Love, and Wonder of each ravish'd Throng! A-while vouchsafe, young Hero, to retire 'Mid Streams, and Grottos, and thAonian Choir: Apollo, God of Fore-sight, who with Ease Thy distant, ripen'd Years, as present, sees, Bids all the Muses Thee receive with Pride, To all the Muses by all Arts ally'd.

Though he produced many translations and gratulatory poems, Eusden's literary reputation is dominated by the satirical allusions of Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...

's satire The Dunciad

The Dunciad

The Dunciad is a landmark literary satire by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times. The first version was published in 1728 anonymously. The second version, the Dunciad Variorum was published anonymously in 1729. The New Dunciad, in four books and with a...

: e.g. "Know, Eusden thirsts no more for sack or praise; He sleeps among the dull of ancient days."

In addition to Pope's skewering of Eusden's abilities, Thomas Gray

Thomas Gray

Thomas Gray was a poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University.-Early life and education:...

, author of "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is a poem by Thomas Gray, completed in 1750 and first published in 1751. The poem’s origins are unknown, but it was partly inspired by Gray’s thoughts following the death of the poet Richard West in 1742. Originally titled Stanza's Wrote in a Country...

", said that "Eusden set out well in life, but afterwards turned out a drunkard and besotted his faculties".

External links

• THE ORIGIN OF THE KNIGHTS OF THE BATH