1. Robert Bloomfield was an English labouring-class poet, whose work is appreciated in the context of other self-educated writers, such as Stephen Duck, Mary Collier and John Clare.
12 Facts About Robert Bloomfield
1. 2.
Robert Bloomfield was born into a poor family in the village of Honington, Suffolk.
3.
Robert Bloomfield's father was a tailor, who died of smallpox when his son was a year old.
4.
Robert Bloomfield had his first poem, "The Village Girl", published in 1786.
5.
Robert Bloomfield was able to carry in his head some fifty to a hundred finished lines of it at a time, until an opportunity arose to write them down.
6.
Meanwhile, Robert Bloomfield's reputation was increased by the appearance of his Rural Tales, several poems of which were set to music by his brother Isaac.
7.
Unfortunately Vernor and Hood, his publishers, failed, and in 1812 Robert Bloomfield had to move from London into a cottage rented to him by a friend in the Bedfordshire village of Shefford.
8.
Robert Bloomfield is buried in the churchyard of the Church of All Saints in nearby Campton, Bedfordshire.
9.
Robert Bloomfield's poetry invites comparison with that of George Crabbe, who was a native of Suffolk.
10.
Robert Bloomfield is more cheerful in tone and his verse is denser and more vigorous.
11.
Robert Bloomfield's work served as an inspiration to John Clare, who began publishing his own rural poetry in 1820 and praised Bloomfield's highly.
12.
In 2000 the Robert Bloomfield Society was founded to promote awareness of his life and work and has encouraged scholarly publications relating to him.