Ebenezer Elliott
Ebenezer Elliott (born March 17, 1781 in Masborough , Yorkshire , † December 1, 1849 in Houghton near Barnsley ) was an English poet .
Elliott was born in Masborough, Yorkshire. His father ran an iron shop and was a fanatical Calvinist .
After attending several schools, he entered his father's business at the age of 16, without neglecting his autodidactic studies of botany and literature. However, he only received a small amount of pocket money for his work. At seventeen, he wrote his first poem, Vernal Walk, and a few books of poetry that were not a great success.
After his marriage, his wife also invested some money in her father-in-law's iron shop. The company went bankrupt anyway, which hastened his father's death. As a result, when Elliot was forty, he was forced to start all over again. With a small loan, he re-established an iron and steel business in Sheffield in 1821, and within a short time he had made a considerable fortune. Elliott attributed the earlier economic difficulties to the grain laws ( corn laws ), which prevented free trade in favor of English large landowners. He therefore joined the Chartist movement, whose aim was to abolish the grain laws.
This political commitment also changed the aim and style of his poetry. The Corn Law Rhymes (three editions until 1831) expressed anger over these laws in simple and powerful language. Another focus of his work was the description of the working world of steel workers.
In 1841 he dissolved his business in Sheffield and was able to withdraw financially secure to Houghton near Barnsley , where he died in 1849.
In 1850 two volumes of More Prose and Verse by the Corn-Law Rhymer appeared . His work escaped the usual fate of political poetry because of its popularity, which lasted into the last century. His verses are almost considered to be folk songs .
Individual evidence
Web links
- Literature by and about Ebenezer Elliott in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Elliott, Ebenezer |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 17, 1781 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Masborough |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 1, 1849 |
| Place of death | Houghton at Barnsley |