Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith

Oliver Goldsmith (November 10, 1730 or 1728 – April 4, 1774) was an Anglo-Irish writer, poet, and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), his pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770) (written in memory of his brother), and his plays The Good-natur'd Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer (1771, first performed in 1773). Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw Year 1730 ( MDCCXXX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1728 ( MDCCXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. Year 1774 ( MDCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a " Anglo-Irish " was a term used historically to describe a privileged Social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story The Vicar of Wakefield is a novel by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith. Year 1766 ( MDCCLXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events Works published Oliver Goldsmith, "The Deserted Village" Phillis Wheatley, a poetic tribute to George Year 1768 ( MDCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a She Stoops to Conquer is a Comedy by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith, son of an Anglo-Irish vicar first performed in London in 1773 Year 1771 ( MDCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1773 ( MDCCLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common (He is also thought to have written the classic children's tale, The History of Little Goody Two Shoes, giving the world that familiar phrase. The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes is a children's story by an anonymous author published in 1765. )

Contents

Biography

He was either born in the townland of Pallas, near Ballymahon, County Longford, Ireland where his father was Anglican curate of the parish of Forgney, or at the residence of his maternal grandparents, Smith Hill House in the diocese of Elphin, County Roscommon where his Grandfather Oliver Jones was a clergyman and master of the Elphin diocesan school. Ballymahon (Baile Uí Mhatháin is a small town on the River Inny in the southern part of County Longford, Ireland. County Longford (Contae an Longfoirt is a county situated in the Irish Midlands, in northwest Leinster. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs From the Latin curatus (compare Curator) a curate is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'' ''of souls'' of a Smith Hill or Smithhill is an early nineteenth century house situated about 1 Elphin ( is a village in north County Roscommon, Ireland. It forms the southern tip of a triangle with Boyle and Carrick-on-Shannon to When he was aged two, Goldsmith's father was appointed rector of the parish of Kilkenny West in County Westmeath. The word rector ("ruler" from the Latin regere and Rector meaning "Teacher" In Latin has a number of different meanings but all of them indicate an academic County Westmeath (Contae na hIarmhí is a County situated in the Irish midlands, also popularly called the "Lake county" in the western part of the province The family moved to the parsonage at Lissoy, between Athlone and Ballymahon, and continued to live there until his father's death in 1747. Depending on denomination, local custom and the status of the minister the Building inhabited (or formerly inhabited by the leader of a local Christian church can Athlone ( is a town that lies on the River Shannon near the southern extremity of Lough Ree, Ireland. Year 1747 ( MDCCXLVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a

Goldsmith earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1749 at Trinity College, Dublin, studying theology and law but never getting as far as ordination. Year 1749 ( MDCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Trinity College Dublin ( TCD; Irish Coláiste na Tríonóide Baile Átha Cliath; Latin: Collegium Sacrosanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society His tutor was Theaker Wilder. Theaker Wilder (c1717 &ndash c1778 was the first Regius Professor of Greek and Senior Register at Trinity College Dublin and became famous for being Oliver Goldsmith He later studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Leiden, then toured Europe, living on his wits. Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the The University of Edinburgh (Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann founded in 1582 is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Leiden University (Universiteit Leiden located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest University in The Netherlands. He also studied at the University of Padua in 1755 and 1757. The University of Padua ( Italian Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) located in Padua, Italy, was founded in 1222

Dr Johnson - Dictionary writer Boswell - Biographer Sir Joshua Reynolds - Host David Garrick - actor Edmund Burke - statesman Pasqual Paoli - Corsican independent Charles Burney - music historian Thomas Warton - poet laureate Oliver Goldsmith - writer prob.The Infant Academy 1782 unknown painting An unknown portrait servant - poss. Dr Johnson's hier Use button to enlarge or use hyperlinks

A literary party at Sir Joshua Reynolds - 1781. The painting shows the friends of Reynolds - many of whom were members of "The Club" - use cursor to identify.
A literary party at Sir Joshua Reynolds - 1781. The painting shows the friends of Reynolds - many of whom were members of "The Club" - use cursor to identify.

On his return, he settled in London, where he worked as an apothecary's assistant. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Perennially in debt and addicted to gambling, Goldsmith had a massive output as a hack writer for the publishers of London, but his few painstaking works earned him the company of Samuel Johnson, along with whom he was a founding member of "The Club". Hack writer is a Colloquial, usually Pejorative, term used to refer to a Writer who is paid to write low-quality quickly put-together articles or books Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September The combination of his literary work and his dissolute lifestyle led Horace Walpole to giving him the much quoted epithet of Inspired Idiot. Horace Walpole 4th Earl of Orford ( 24 September, 1717 &ndash 2 March, 1797) more commonly known as Horace Walpole, was a politician During this period he used the pseudonym "James Willington" (the name of a fellow student at Trinity) to publish his 1758 translation of the autobiography of the Huguenot Jean Marteilhe. Year 1758 ( MDCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France (or French Calvinists) from the sixteenth to the eighteenth

Goldsmith is recorded as being a highly jealous man, a likable but disorganised character who once failed to emigrate to America because he missed the ferry. The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America

He was buried in Temple Church; his death in 1774 may have been partly caused by his own misdiagnosis of his kidney infection. The Temple Church is a late 12th century church in London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built for and by the Knights The kidneys are complicated organs that have numerous biological roles His inscription reads; "HERE LIES/OLIVER GOLDSMITH". There is a monument to him in the centre of Ballymahon, also in Westminster Abbey with an epitaph written by Samuel Johnson. Ballymahon (Baile Uí Mhatháin is a small town on the River Inny in the southern part of County Longford, Ireland. 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 An epitaph (in Greek, &mdash literally " on the gravestone " is a short text honoring a deceased person strictly speaking that inscribed on [1]

Goldsmith's birth date is not known for certain. According to the Library of Congress authority file, he told a biographer that he was born on November 29, 1731 or perhaps 1730. Events 1777 - San Jose California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe Year 1731 ( MDCCXXXI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1730 ( MDCCXXX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Other sources have indicated November 10, on any year from 1727 to 1731. Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw Year 1727 ( MDCCXXVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1731 ( MDCCXXXI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year November 10, 1730 is now the most commonly accepted birth date. Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw Year 1730 ( MDCCXXX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a

Works

The Deserted Village

In the poem "The Deserted Village" (1770), Goldsmith revisits Auburn, a village of which he had fond memories, and marks the depopulation brought about through the emigration of its peasant community and the influx of monopolising riches. He mourns over the state of a society where "wealth accumulates and men decay". Using images pertaining to the land in his poem, he gives to his readers a sense of what it was like to live in the countryside during modernization and how it has destroyed the land the former inhabitants worked so hard to maintain.

At the time in which this poem was written, it was true that the labouring class was in a dire situation. Changes in land ownership led to shortages in labour, and poverty became a common problem. Small farmers were forced out of the countryside. Alongside this problem came the new zest for luxuries and possessions. Poets became enamoured by each situation, and accordingly much poetry of the time uses the labouring class and the growth of the luxury as a key theme. Thus, it is equally possible that Oliver Goldsmith’s Deserted Village is a critique of luxury, or alternatively, an engagement with the realities of labouring-class poverty.

In the book's dedication to Joshua Reynolds, Goldsmith attempts to convey his reasons for writing a poem about the depopulation of the countryside. He is sure that the poetic community will disagree with his picture of the countryside as a poor place of misfortune, desolation and poverty and thus justifies it here. He writes:

"I know you will object (and indeed several of our best and wisest friend concur in the opinion) that the depopulation it deplores is no where to be seen, and the disorders it laments are only to be found in the poet’s own imagination. To this I can scarce make any other answer than that I sincerely believe what I have written; that I have taken all possible pains, in my country excursions, for these four or five years past, to be certain of what I allege, and that all my views and enquiries have led me to believe those miseries real, which I here attempt to display. "[2]

This assertion indicates Goldsmith’s attachment to the people of the countryside; he believes it is vital that their lives are portrayed truthfully and lucidly, perhaps without the typical frills of pastoral poetry. However, in the same letter, Goldsmith goes on to write,

"In regretting the depopulation of the country, I inveigh against the increase of our luxuries. . For twenty of thirty years past, it has been the fashion to consider luxury as one of the greatest national advantages. . . Still however, I. . . continue to think those luxuries prejudicial to states, by which so many vices are introduced, and so many kingdoms have been undone. "

This second and perhaps, more strongly worded argument indicates that Goldsmith is further angered by the effect of the luxury on Britain at this time. He finishes the letter on this note, and does not return to the situation of the labouring class, and this emphasises his strength of feeling on this matter.

According to James Boswell it was Dr. Johnson who wrote the last four lines of the poem. James Boswell 9th Laird of Auchinleck ( October 29, 1740 - May 19, 1795) was a lawyer diarist and Author born in Edinburgh Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September [3]

Goldsmith's grand-nephew, also named Oliver, wrote a response to his uncle's poem entitled The Rising Village, in which he details the rise of communities in Acadia (now Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada). The Association for Computer Aided Design In Architecture ( ACADIA) is a Non-profit organization active in the area of Computer-aided architectural design Nova Scotia (ˌnəʊvəˈskəʊʃə ( Latin for New Scotland; Alba Nuadh Nouvelle-Écosse is a Canadian province located on Canada 's New Brunswick ( French: Nouveau-Brunswick /nuvobʁɔnzwik/ is one of Canada 's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The response to his uncle seems to suggest that the peasants who couldn't survive in The Deserted Village would have found opportunities in the new world. The Rising Village was published in 1825. It has become a staple of the Canadian literary canon and has been heavily anthologized. (See, for example, Canadian Poetry: From the Beginnings Through the First World War, edited by Carole Gerson and Gwendolyn Davies. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1994. )

The Hermit

Goldsmith wrote this romantic ballad of precisely 160 lines in 1765. The hero and heroine are Edwin, a youth without wealth or power, and Angelina, the daughter of a lord "beside the Tyne. " Angelina spurns many wooers, but refuses to make plain her love for young Edwin. "Quite dejected with my scorn," Edwin disappears and becomes a hermit. One day, Angelina turns up at his cell in boy's clothes and, not recognizing him, tells him her story. Edwin then reveals his true identity, and the lovers never part again. The poem is notable for its interesting portrayal of a hermit, who is fond of the natural world and his wilderness solitude but maintains a gentle, sympathetic demeanor toward other people. In keeping with eremitical tradition, however, Edwin the Hermit claims to "spurn the [opposite] sex. " This poem appears under the title of "A Ballad" sung by the character of Mr. Burchell in Chapter 8 of Goldsmith's novel, The Vicar of Wakefield. The Vicar of Wakefield is a novel by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith.

The Citizen of the World

In 1760, Goldsmith began to publish a series of letters in the Public Ledger under the title The Citizen of the World. Purportedly written by a Chinese traveler in England named Lien Chi, they used this fictional outsider's perspective to comment ironically and at times moralistically on British society and manners.

The ironic poem, An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog was published in 1766.

Trivia

There is a school named after him in London called Oliver Goldsmith Primary School. In the play Marx In Soho by Howard Zinn, Marx makes a reference to The Deserted Village. Howard Zinn (born August 24 1922 is an American Historian, political scientist, social critic, activist and Playwright, best known Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1730 or 1728 &ndash 4 April 1774 was an Anglo-Irish writer poet and Physician known for his Novel The Vicar [4]

A statue of him stands at the Front Arch of Trinity College in Dublin.

His name has been given to a new lecture theatre and student accommodation on the Trinity College campus, Goldsmith Hall.

Somerset Maugham used the last line from An Elegy On The Death Of A Mad Dog in his novel The Painted Veil (1925). William Somerset Maugham, CH ( January 25 1874 &ndash December 16 1965) was an English Playwright, The character Walter Fane's last words are The dog it was that died.

References

  1. ^ "Oliver Goldsmith: A Poet, Naturalist, and Historian, who left scarcely any style of writing untouched, and touched nothing that he did not adorn. Of all the passions, whether smiles were to move or tears, a powerful yet gentle master. In genius, vivid, versatile, sublime. In style, clear, elevated, elegant. " Epitaph written by Dr. Johnson, translated from the original Latin. Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September
  2. ^ "The Deserted Village", with dedication to Sir Joshua Reynolds. [1]
  3. ^ ""Deserted Village", The Oxford Companion to English literature, 2nd Edition 1937.
  4. ^ Marx in Soho, Howard Zinn 1999, South End Press

External links

Persondata
NAME Goldsmith, Oliver
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Anglo-Irish writer, poet, and physician
DATE OF BIRTH November 10, 1730 or 1728
PLACE OF BIRTH townland of Pallas, near Ballymahon, County Longford, Ireland or Smith Hill House in the diocese of Elphin, County Roscommon
DATE OF DEATH April 4, 1774
PLACE OF DEATH
A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw Year 1730 ( MDCCXXX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1728 ( MDCCXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Ballymahon (Baile Uí Mhatháin is a small town on the River Inny in the southern part of County Longford, Ireland. County Longford (Contae an Longfoirt is a county situated in the Irish Midlands, in northwest Leinster. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Smith Hill or Smithhill is an early nineteenth century house situated about 1 Elphin ( is a village in north County Roscommon, Ireland. It forms the southern tip of a triangle with Boyle and Carrick-on-Shannon to Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. Year 1774 ( MDCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic