Old Newgate prison. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Thomas Fowler (1790 fl.) was an English poet.
Life[]
Almost nothing is known of Fowler, who published his only book, a long poem on "The Prison," anonymously. A letter he wrote to the Monthly Review, and revealed in a manuscript note in its pages, indicates that he worked as a livery servant.[1]
Writing[]
The Prison is a didactic long poem written in 223 quatrains of Iambic pentameter rhyming ABCB (cross rhyme). Rather than couplets or blank verse most commonly used in didactic poetry, Fowler uses the stanza and stately manner of Gray's "Elegy written in a Country Churchyard" to elevate his low subject and attract pity for the inmates of the prisons. A number of earlier imitations of Gray's "Elegy" had been concerned with criminals and the legal system.[1]
Publications[]
- The Prison: A poem. 1790.[1]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Thomas Fowler (1770 ca.-1790 fl.), English Poetry, 1579-1830, Center for Applied Technologies in the Humanities, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. Web, June 21, 2016. Cite error: Invalid
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External linkes[]
- About
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