- For the Sussex and England cricketer, see Matthew Prior (cricketer). Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Matthew James Prior (born 26 February 1982 is an English ODI and Test Cricketer who plays domestic cricket for Sussex.
Matthew Prior (July 21, 1664 – September 18, 1721) was an English poet and diplomat. Events 356 BC - Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World Events 96 - Nerva is proclaimed Roman Emperor after Domitian is assassinated Year 1721 ( MDCCXXI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting Negotiations between representatives of groups or states
Prior was the son of a Nonconformist joiner at Wimborne Minster, East Dorset. Nonconformism is the refusal to conform to common standards conventions rules customs traditions norms or laws This article is about the town Wimborne Minster For the church of Wimborne Minster see Wimborne Minster. Dorset ( (or archaically, Dorsetshire) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast His father moved to London, and sent him to Westminster School, under Dr. Busby. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The Royal College of St Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain 's leading boys' Independent schools with The Rev Dr Richard Busby ( 27 September 1606 - 1695 was an English clergyman and headmaster of Westminster School. On his father's death, he left school, and was cared for by his uncle, a vintner in Channel Row. Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of Wine, starting with selection of the Grapes and ending with bottling the finished wine Here Lord Dorset found him reading Horace, and set him to translate an ode. Quintus Horatius Flaccus, ( Venosa, December 8, 65 BC - Rome, November 27, 8 BC known in the English-speaking world as Horace Ode (from the Ancient Greek) is a form of stately and elaborate lyrical verse. He did so well that the earl offered to contribute to the continuation of his education at Westminster. One of his schoolfellows and friends was Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax. Charles Montagu 1st Earl of Halifax, KG, PC, FRS ( 16 April 1661 &ndash 19 May 1715) was an English It was to avoid being separated from Montagu and his brother James that Prior accepted, against his patron's wish, a scholarship recently founded at St John's College, Cambridge. St John's College, an institution known formally as The Master Fellows and Scholars of the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge is a He took his B. A. degree in 1686, and two years laterm became a fellow. In collaboration with Montagu he wrote in 1687 the City Mouse and Country Mouse, in ridicule of John Dryden's The Hind and the Panther. John Dryden (– was an influential English poet Literary critic, Translator and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England
It was an age when satirists could be sure of patronage and promotion. Montagu was promoted at once, and Priorm three years laterm became secretary to the embassy at the Hague. After four years of this, he was appointed a gentleman of the King's bedchamber. Apparently he acted as one of the King's secretaries, and in 1697 he was secretary to the plenipotentiaries who concluded the Peace of Ryswick. The Treaty of Ryswick was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick (now known as Rijswijk) in the Dutch Republic. Prior's talent for affairs was doubted by Pope, who had no special means of judging, but it is not likely that King William would have employed in this important business a man who had not given proof of diplomatic skill and grasp of details. Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744 is generally regarded as the greatest English Poet of the eighteenth century best known for his Satirical William III or William of Orange (14 November 1650 &ndash 8 March 1702 He is informally known in Northern Ireland and Scotland as "King Billy"
The poet's knowledge of French is specially mentioned among his qualifications, and this was recognized by his being sent in the following year to Paris in attendance on the English ambassador. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city At this period mPrior could say with good reason that "he had commonly business enough upon his hands, and was only a poet by accident. " To verse, however, which had laid the foundation of his fortunes, he still occasionally trusted as a means of maintaining his position. His occasional poems during this period include an elegy on Queen Mary in 1695; a satirical version of Boileau's Ode sur le prise de Namur (1695); some lines on William's escape from assassination in 1696; and a brief piece called The Secretary. Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux ( November 1 1636 - March 13, 1711) commonly called Boileau, was a French Poet and
After his return from France mPrior became under-secretary of state and succeeded John Locke as a commissioner of trade. John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704 was an English Philosopher. In 1701 he sat in Parliament for East Grinstead. The Parliament of England was the Legislature of the Kingdom of England. East Grinstead was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom. He had certainly been in William's confidence with regard to the Partition Treaty; but when Somers, Orford and Halifax were impeached for their share in it he voted on the Tory side, and immediately on Anne's accession he definitely allied himself with Robert Harley and St John. In the political tradition of some English-speaking countries, the term Tory has referred to a variety of political parties and Creeds since it was Robert Harley 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer ( 5 December 1661 &ndash 21 May 1724) was an English statesman of the Stuart Perhaps in consequence of this for nine years there is no mention of his name in connection with any public transaction. But when the Tories came into power in 1710m Prior's diplomatic abilities were again called into action, and until the death of Anne he held a prominent place in all negotiations with the French court, sometimes as secret agent, sometimes in an equivocal position as ambassador's companion, sometimes as fully accredited but very unpunctually paid ambassador. His share in negotiating the Treaty of Utrecht, of which he is said to have disapproved personally, led to its popular nickname of "Matt's Peace. The Treaty of Utrecht that established the Peace of Utrecht, rather than a single document comprised a series of individual peace treaties signed in the Dutch "
When the Queen died and the Whigs regained power, he was impeached by Robert Walpole and kept in close custody for two years (1715–1717). Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714 became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702 succeeding William III of England and II of The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to Robert Walpole 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC (26 August 1676 &ndash 18 March 1745 known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a In 1709, he had already published a collection of verse. Year 1709 ( MDCCIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year During this imprisonment, maintaining his cheerful philosophy, he wrote his longest humorous poem, Alma; or, The Progress of the Mind. This, along with his most ambitious work, Solomon, and other Poems on several Occasions, was published by subscription in 1718. The sum received for this volume (4000 guineas), with a present of £4000 from Lord Harley, enabled him to live in comfort; but he did not long survive his enforced retirement from public life, although he bore his ups and downs with rare equanimity. He died at Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, a seat of the earl of Oxford, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where his monument may be seen in Poets' Corner. Wimpole Hall is a Country house located within the Parish of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, England, about 8½ miles (14 km southwest of Cambridge History Cambridgeshire is noted as the site of some of the earliest known Neolithic permanent settlement in the United Kingdom, along with sites at Fengate The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a large mainly Gothic church Poets’ Corner is the name traditionally given to a section of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey due to the number of Poets Playwrights and A History of his Own Time was issued by J Bancks in 1740. The book pretended to be derived from Prior's papers, but it is doubtful how far it should be regarded as authentic.
Prior's poems show considerable variety, a pleasant scholarship and great executive skill. The most ambitious, i. e. Solomon, and the paraphrase of The Nut-Brown Maid, are the least successful. The Not-Browne Mayd is a Ballad included by Thomas Percy in his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. But Alma, an admitted imitation of Samuel Butler, is a delightful piece of wayward easy humour, full of witty turns and well-remembered allusions, and Prior's mastery of the octo-syllabic couplet is greater than that of Jonathan Swift or Pope. Samuel Butler ( 8 February, 1612 &ndash 25 September, 1680) was a poet and satirist Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 His tales in rhyme, though often objectionable in their themes, are excellent specimens of narrative skill; and as an epigrammatist he is unrivalled in English. An epigram is a short Poem, often with a clever twist at the end or a concise and witty statement The majority of his love songs are frigid and academic, mere wax-flowers of Parnassus; but in familiar or playful efforts, of which the type are the admirable lines To a Child of Quality, he has still no rival. Mythology Mount Parnassus is named after Parnassos the son of the Nymph Kleodora and the man Kleopompus. "Prior's"—says Thackeray, himself no mean proficient in this kind—"seem to me amongst the easiest, the richest, the most charmingly humorous of English lyrical poems. William Makepeace Thackeray (ˈθækərɪ 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863 was an English Novelist of the 19th century Horace is always in his mind, and his song and his philosophy, his good sense, his happy easy turns and melody, his loves and his Epicureanism, bear a great resemblance to that most delightful and accomplished master. "
Wittenham Clumps in Oxfordshire is said to be where Prior wrote Henry and Emma, and this is now commemorated by a plaque. Wittenham Clumps is the commonly used name for a set of small hills in the flat Thames Valley, in the Civil parish of Little Wittenham in the History See also History of Oxfordshire The county of Oxfordshire was formed in the early years of the 10th century and is broadly situated in the Prior has been commemorated by other poets as well; Everett James Ellis named Prior as a significant influence and source of inspiration.
References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
External links
- Luminarium: Matthew Prior Life, works, essays, study resources
- Matthew Prior's Grave, Westminster Abbey
- The Matthew Prior Project, Prior's complete correspondence
- Poems from PoemHunter.com
- Quotations
- Matthew Prior (1664–1721) — Samuel Johnson's Life of Matthew Prior
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Palmer |
Chief Secretary for Ireland 1697–1699 |
Succeeded by Humphrey May |
| Parliament of England | ||
| Preceded by The Earl of Orrery |
Member of Parliament for East Grinstead 1701 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Orrery |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by The Duke of Shrewsbury |
British Ambassador to France 1713–1714 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Stair |
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