Richard Savage (poet)

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Richard Savage (* 1697 in England , † August 1, 1743 in Bristol , England) was an English poet . About Savage his friend wrote Samuel Johnson in his book An Account of the Life of Mr Richard Savage (dt. A report on the life of Richard Savage) which is a part of Johnson's complete works Lives of the English Poets (dt. Life of the English poet ; 1744) is. This work is considered one of the best short biographies in English.

Life

Richard Savage was the illegitimate child of Anne, Countess of Macclesfield , and Richard Savage, 4th Earl of Rivers . He was conceived after Anne divorced Charles Gerard, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield. Shortly thereafter, she married Colonel Henry Brett. Six months after his birth, he and his sister Anne were abandoned by their mother in Covent Garden. He was raised by his grandmother Mrs. Mason and by the godmother Mrs. Lloyd.

In 1727 he murdered James Sinclair during a brawl in an inn and was sentenced to death but pardoned by the Queen. During this time he wrote poems such as The Convocation (1717) or The Wanderer (1729). He also published the comedy Love in a Veil (1719), which was performed at the Theater Royal Drury Lane , and the tragedy Sir Thomas Overbury (1723), which was also performed.

In 1737 he first met Samuel Johnson, who later wrote a biography of Savage.

Savage had hopes to become a Poet Laureate , but eventually his old friend Colley Cibber (1671–1757) received this title and the annual pension associated with it. Enraged by this deferral, Savage wrote a poem for the Queen's birthday in which he referred to himself as a Volunteer Laureate . Queen Caroline , wife of George II, was amused and awarded Savage an annual pension of £ 50. When the Queen died in 1737, Savage was again destitute. Richard Savage died impoverished in the Bristol Debt Tower.

Karl Gutzkow wrote a drama about the life of Savage in 1839.

literature

  • Samuel Johnson: The life of Mr. Richard Savage, son of the Earl Rivers: 3rd Ed., To which are Added The Lives of Sir Francis Drake and Admiral Blake. Printed for Henry and Cave, 1767, 298 pages

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ * January 16, 1697 in Fox Court, Holborn , baptized Richard Smith two days later in St. Andrews Church in Holborn. After Peter von Mendelssohn : Splendor and misery of Richard Savage. In: The newspaper . July 30, 1943, p. 6
  2. ↑ a b c Richard Savage. In: Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved June 13, 2009 .
  3. ↑ Samuel Johnson: The life of Mr. Richard Savage, son of the Earl Rivers: 3rd Ed., To which are Added The Lives of Sir Francis Drake and Admiral Blake. Printed for Henry and Cave, 1767, pp. 4-6
personal data
SURNAME Savage, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English poet
DATE OF BIRTH January 16, 1697
PLACE OF BIRTH Fox Court, Holborn
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 1743
Place of death Bristol , England