Edward Young
Edward Young (also translated as: Edward Young) (1683-1765) was a great British poet who suffered the loss of his wife and daughter within a few years. , the grief of his son-in-law, and in pain, he wrote his long poem "Night Thoughts" (full name "Sorrow, or Night Thoughts About Life, Death, and Eternal Life") that has been handed down from generation to generation. This work was written between 1742 and 1745. . In this nine-volume, approximately 10,000-line blank verse poem, the poet spends sleepless nights pondering the vagaries of life's fate. The sentimental emotions about death in the poem are intertwined with theological discussions about life and death. The melancholy and dull mood inspired the emergence of the "cemetery poetry school" of later poets who used death and graves as themes, while Yange was a "grave poet". The founder of the Garden Poetry School.
Chinese name: Edward Young
Date of birth: 1683
Date of death: 1765
Occupation: Poet
p>Representative work: "Sorrow, or Night Thoughts About Life, Death, and Eternal Life"
Early Experience
The poet's father was also named Edward Young, who served as President of Salisbury College. The poet was born in 1681, studied at Oxford University, and received a doctorate in law. Young Edward Young (Yang means Young, literally translated into Chinese means Youth) is a standard outstanding young person from today's perspective. If he appeared on a dating show, he would probably put out a lot of lights.
Literary career
His early literary works include: "Letter to Lord Lansdowne", "Doomsday Psalms" and some scattered poems.
In 1717, he met Philip, Duke of Wharton, in Dublin and received his patronage. In 1719, his first important drama, Busiris, was dedicated to the Duke of Wharton. The Duke of Wharton promised to sponsor him an annuity of 100 pounds per year (at that time, 1 pound was equivalent to 1 pound of silver, and 100 pounds was a large amount), and gave him a one-time grant of 600 pounds to attend the Cirencester Parliament. Election of MPs. At this time Edward Young was very proud. He even turned down a tenured chair at Ossols College, Oxford University, and another life annuity offered by the Marquess of Exeter (of course this would be a tutor for the Marquess's son). However, the good times did not last long. Not long after, the Duke of Wharton broke the appointment. As a last resort, Edward Young sued Justice Hardwick in 1740. The result of the lawsuit: Edward Young regained the annuity, but with a sponsorship of 600 pounds. It was wasted.
Edward Young published a series of satirical poems between 1725 and 1728. Most of these poems were dedicated to some dignitaries of the time, and were compiled into the collection "Love of Fame" in 1728. The literal translation of theUniversalPassion is: the love of fame, universal passion). These poems were highly praised by the great writer Dr. Samuel Johnson, who called him "of great talent". With these poems, Edward Young gained both fame and fortune. Later generations infer that he earned approximately 3,000 pounds from them, which was a huge sum of money at the time, equivalent to more than 8 million yuan today.
Let’s talk about something off topic. In the earliest times, one pound was worth as much as one pound of silver. In Dickens's 1838 novel Oliver Twist, five pounds could buy an orphan boy. In ancient Britain, white boys were still very valuable. The United Kingdom officially adopted the gold standard in 1821, and the pound became the standard monetary unit of the United Kingdom. Each pound contains 7.32238 grams of pure gold. It can be inferred that one pound in the mid-19th century was equivalent to at least two thousand yuan today. In the earlier 18th century, it can only be calculated from its original definition. 1 pound = 453.59237 grams. The current price of silver is 6.3 yuan/gram. That is, 1 pound = 2,800 yuan in the 18th century. 3,000 pounds is equivalent to 8.4 million yuan. RMB! Of course, this is only based on silver. ) So how can a poet earn so much income with just a few humorous poems? The reason was that the social custom among wealthy people at that time was: they don’t want Hermès bags and private jets, but they only want talented people to write poems to me. The scribes at that time mainly dedicated these poems to high officials and dignitaries. For the wealthy, this dedication of poems, especially those from celebrities, was a great honor, and their reward was: giving money to the poet. Of course, it can't be so vulgar and insignificant. It's in the name of giving an annuity - that is, giving you a sum of money every year, or finding a reason to fund you to do a certain project.
With an income of more than 8 million, Yang should be considered rich, but no, this money is just enough for him to pay off his debts. Because at this time Edward Young was already heavily in debt. Why? Because like many investors today, he lost money by trading in the stock market. Instead of being trapped at 6,000 points, he fell into the largest bubble in financial history - Nanhai Company stock speculation. At that time, people could borrow money to trade in stocks, so not only did Yang's entire net worth return to zero, he also owed a lot of debt.
In 1726, he finally received an annuity of 200 pounds per year from Sir Robert Walpole. But this annuity is not lifelong, it is just temporary support for him.
In Yang Ge's era, the social custom of nobles funding literati was no longer fashionable, but Yang Ge was still pursuing the nobles' funding: funding his poetry, funding His plays financed his religious undertakings.
But unfortunately, he failed in all areas. He has never received a grant that he thought was worthy of his work, because the nobles he courted were all people who were in the sunset - just like the four major families in the Dream of Red Mansions, all of whom lived together.
Like most outstanding young people today, Yang's life was a life of pursuing fame and wealth. In 1728, Young's good news was imminent. In this year, he became the royal chaplain. And in 1730 he received stipends from the universities of Welwyn and Hertfordshire. In today's parlance, this is called workplace dominance. In 1731, when he was over 50 years old, he finally succeeded in achieving a high position in life: he married the socialite Elizabeth Lee (the daughter of the Earl of Lichfield). Of course, Elizabeth Lee was not a little girl, but the mother of a beautiful woman. Her first husband was her cousin Francis Lee, and this daughter was born to her cousin. Almost the same year, Young's stepdaughter married Henry Temple, the son of the Marquess of Palmerston, an aristocratic prince. Although she was not his own daughter, Yang Ge was quite affectionate towards this daughter. However, the good times did not last long. In 1736, Young's daughter died in France. In 1740, Young's son-in-law and wife passed away one after another. Edward Young experienced the grief of losing his wife, daughter, and son-in-law within a few years. In the pain, he wrote his long poem "Night Thoughts" (full name: "Mourning, Or About Life, Death, Night Thoughts of Eternal Life"). In this nine-volume blank verse, about 10,000 lines long, the poet, who lies awake at night, ponders the vagaries of life's fate. In the form of a "monologue", partly in a tone of identification and partly in a tone of introspection, he preached to the layman Lorenzo, urging him to believe in religion and do good deeds. The poet sees life as the pain of powerless reason and seeks solace in religion. The sentimental emotions about death in the poem are intertwined with theological discussions about life and death. The melancholy and dull mood led to the emergence of the "Graveyard Poetry School" with themes of death and graves. He is the founder of the "Graveyard Poetry School" ..
Yang Ge later lived for a long 25 years, reaching the age of 84. This was quite a long life at the time.
Later, in German literature, Edward Young also had a great influence. The great Goethe said to his sister in 1766: "I learned my English from the poetry of Milton and Young." In Goethe's autobiography "Poetry and Truth", Goethe confessed that the mood and elements of "The Sorrows of Young Werther" were influenced by Young. Young's name soon became a banner and cult symbol in Germany's famous "Sturm und Drang" movement.