Значение слова THOMSON в Литературной энциклопедии

THOMSON

1) JAMES (1700-1748).-Poet, _s._ of the minister of Ednam, Roxburghshire, spent most of his youth, however, at Southdean, a neighbouring parish, to which his _f._ was translated. He was _ed._ at the parish school there, at Jedburgh, and at Edin., whither he went with the view of studying for the ministry. The style of one of his earliest sermons having been objected to by the Prof. of Divinity as being too flowery and imaginative, he gave up his clerical views and went to London in 1725, taking with him a part of what ultimately became his poem of _Winter_. By the influence of his friend Mallet he became tutor to Lord Binning, _s._ of the Earl of Haddington, and was introduced to Pope, Arbuthnot, Gay, and others. _Winter_ was _pub._ in 1726, and was followed by _Summer_ (1727), _Spring_ (1728), and _Autumn_ (1730), when the whole were brought together as _The Seasons_. Previous to 1730 he had produced one or two minor poems and the tragedy of _Sophonisba_, which, after promising some success, was killed by the unfortunate line, "Oh! Sophonisba, Sophonisba, oh!" being parodied as "Oh! Jemmy Thomson, Jemmy Thomson, oh!" In 1731 T. accompanied Charles Talbot, _s._ of the Lord Chancellor, to the Continent, as tutor, and on his return received the sinecure Secretaryship of Briefs which, however, he lost in 1737, through omitting to apply for its continuance to Talbot's successor. He then returned to the drama and produced _Agamemnon_ in 1738, and _Edward and Eleanora_ in 1739. The same year he received from the Prince of Wales a pension of L100, and was made Surveyor-General of the Leeward Islands which, after providing for a deputy to discharge the duties, left him L300 a year. He was now in comfortable circumstances and settled in a villa near Richmond, where he amused himself with gardening and seeing his friends. In conjunction with Mallet he wrote, in 1740, the masque of _Alfred_, in which appeared _Rule Britannia_, which M. afterwards claimed, or allowed to be claimed, for him, but which there is every reason to believe was contributed by T. In 1745 appeared _Tancred and Sigismunda_, the most successful of his dramas, and in 1748 _Coriolanus_. In May of the latter year he _pub._ _The Castle of Indolence_, an allegorical poem in the Spenserian stanza, generally considered to be his masterpiece. In August following he caught a chill which developed into a fever, and carried him off in his 48th year. Though T. was undoubtedly a poet by nature, his art was developed by constant and fastidious polishing. To _The Seasons_, originally containing about 4000 lines, he added about 1400 in his various revisions. He was the first to give the description of nature the leading place, and in his treatment of his theme he showed much judgment in the selection of the details to be dwelt upon. His blank verse, though not equal to that of a few other English poets, is musical and wielded in a manner suitable to his subject. In all his poems he displays the genial temper and kindly sympathies by which he was characterised as a man. He was never _m._, and lived an easy, indolent life, beloved by his many friends. (_See also_ Lyttelton, Lord) 2) THOMSON, JAMES (1834-1882).-Poet, _b._ at Port Glasgow and brought up in the Royal Caledonian Asylum, was for some years an army teacher, but was dismissed for a breach of discipline. He became associated with Charles Bradlaugh, the free-thought protagonist, who introduced him to the conductors of various secularist publications. His best known poem is _The City of Dreadful Night_, deeply pessimistic. Others are _Vane's Story_ and _Weddah and Omel-Bonain_. His views resulted in depression, which led to dipsomania, and he _d._ in poverty and misery. His work has a certain gloomy power which renders it distinctly noteworthy.

Литературная энциклопедия. 2012