11 Facts About Thomas Warton

Thomas Warton was an English literary historian, critic, and poet.

Thomas Warton was appointed Poet Laureate in 1785, following the death of William Whitehead.

Thomas Warton is sometimes called Thomas Warton the younger to distinguish him from his father, who had the same name.

Thomas Warton translated one of Martial's epigrams at nine and wrote The Pleasures of Melancholy at seventeen.

Thomas Warton graduated from Oxford in 1747, where he subsequently became a Fellow.

Thomas Warton was selected as Poet Laureate of Oxford in 1747 and again in 1748.

Thomas Warton was appointed Professor of Poetry at the university in 1757, a post that he held for ten years.

Thomas Warton contributed to the general project of the ballad revival.

Thomas Warton gave little attention to his clerical duties, and Oxford always remained his home.

Thomas Warton was known as a very easy and convivial as well as a very learned don, with a taste for taverns and crowds as well as dim aisles and romances.

Thomas Warton is best known for the three-volume The History of English Poetry, which covered the poetry of the 11th through the 16th centuries.