William Shenstone

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Bust of William Shenstone on the title page of The Works in Verse and Prose of William Shenstone, Esq., Vol. I , 2nd edition (London, J. Dodsley, 1765)

William Shenstone (born November 13, 1714 in Halesowen ; † February 11, 1763 ibid) was an English poet .

life and work

He was the son of the clergyman Thomas Shenstone (1686-1723) and his wife Ann Penn († 1739). He had a younger brother Thomas (1722–1751). After the death of his father, his uncle Thomas Dolman took over the guardianship for him. As a child he was interested in literature. He later set a memorial to his first teacher, Sarah Lloyd, in the poem The Schoolmistress (1736).

After graduating from Grammar School , he studied from May 1732 at Pembroke College , Oxford. After two years he broke off his studies and withdrew to the country, but remained officially matriculated until 1742. At the age of 19 he wrote his first poem, in 1737 he published a small edition of a collection of poems Poems on various occasions . In 1743 he wrote A Pastoral Ballad , one of his most famous poems.

After the death of his guardian in 1745, he took over the 150- acre family estate The Leasowes and devoted himself to landscape gardening in addition to writing . Through his writing Unconnected thoughts on gardening (1759, published 1764), he is considered to be one of the founders of the concept of the Ferme Ornée , which was supposed to bring aesthetic design and agricultural use into harmony. This influenced, among other things, the American President Thomas Jefferson in the construction of his country estate Monticello . Shenstone conducted numerous correspondence and received guests whom he proudly showed his gardens. However, he had only a modest income and was plagued by financial worries throughout his life.

He died unmarried and without descendants, his gardens fell into disrepair after his death. His literary work was published 1764-1769 by his friend Robert Dodsley in 3 volumes under the title The works in verse and prose of William Shenstone .

His poems have been appreciated by, among others, Oliver Goldsmith and Robert Burns . In 1786 Burns referred to him as that celebrated poet whose divine elegies do honor to our language, our nation and our species . In contrast, Horace Walpole was very critical of him. Samuel Johnson in particular played a major role in the fact that Shenstone is now almost forgotten as a poet . He wrote about him unflattering: The general recommendation of Shenstone is easiness and simplicity; his general defect is want of comprehension and variety. Had his mind been better stored with knowledge, whether he could have been great, I know not; he could certainly have been agreeable .

In the history of the English language Shenstone went through his word creation Floccinaucinihilipilification , which he used in a letter in 1741.

literature

sorted alphabetically by author

  • GA Aitken: William Shenstone . In: Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 18. Smith Elder, London 1909, pp. 48-50.
  • Alice I. Hazeltine: A study of William Shenstone and of his critics. With fifteen of his unpublished poems and five of his unpublished Latin inscriptions . Collegiate Press, Menasha 1918 (reprint 1973).
  • Simone Schulz: Garden art, agriculture and poetry with William Shenstone and his Ferme Ornée “The Leasowes” in the mirror of his literary circle . Dissertation, Free University of Berlin 2005, diss.fu-berlin.de
  • Shenstone, William . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 24 : Sainte-Claire Deville - Shuttle . London 1911, p. 839 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Shenstone, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British writer and gardener
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1714
PLACE OF BIRTH Halesowen
DATE OF DEATH February 11, 1763
Place of death Halesowen