Robert Bloomfield
Encyclopedia
Robert Bloomfield was an English
labouring class poet whose work is appreciated in the context of other self-educated writers such as Stephen Duck
, Mary Collier
and John Clare
.
. His father was a tailor and died of smallpox when the son was a year old. It was from his mother Elizabeth, who kept the village school, that he received the rudiments of education. Apprenticed at the age of eleven to a farming uncle, he was too small and frail for field labour; four years later he was sent to London
to work as a shoemaker under his elder brother George. One of his early duties was to read the papers aloud while the others in the workshop were working and he became particularly interested in the poetry section of The London Magazine. Very soon he started writing in imitation and had his first poem, “The Village Girl”, published in 1786. When his brother George returned to Suffolk in that year, he set up on his own as a cobbler and in 1790 married Mary Ann Church, by whom he was to have five children.
The poem that made his reputation, The Farmer's Boy, was composed in a garret in Bell Alley, where half a dozen other men were at work; Bloomfield was able to carry some fifty to a hundred finished lines of it in his head at a time until there was opportunity to write them down. The manuscript
was declined by several publishers and was eventually shown by his brother George to Capel Lofft
, a radical Suffolk squire of literary tastes, who arranged for its publication with woodcuts by Thomas Bewick
in 1800. The success of the poem was remarkable, over 25,000 copies being sold in the next two years. Also reprinted in several American editions, it appeared in German translation in Leipzig, translated into French as Le Valet du Fermier in Paris, and in Italian translation in Milan; there was even a Latin translation of parts of it, De Agricolae Puero, Anglicano Poemate celeberrimo excerptum, et in morem Latini Georgice redditum, by the lively Suffolk vicar Dr William Clubbe (1745–1814). The poem was particularly admired by the Suffolk-born painter John Constable
who used couplets from it as tags to two paintings: a 'Ploughing Scene' (shown at the Royal Academy in 1814) and 'A Harvest Field, Reapers, Gleaners' (shown at the British Institution in 1817), which he noted as deriving from 'Bloomfield's poem'.
While this success helped reduce his poverty for a while, it also took him away from his work. As a result the Earl of Grafton
, who lived at Euston Hall
near the village of Bloomfield's birth, settled on him a small annuity and used his influence to gain him employment in the Seal Office to the King’s Bench Court and then at Somerset House
, but he worked in neither for long. Meanwhile Bloomfield's reputation was increased by the appearance of his Rural Tales (1802), several poems of which were set to music by his brother Isaac. Another of them, "The Miller's Maid", was made an opera by John Davy (1763–1824) in 1804 and formed the basis for a two-act melodrama by John Faucit Saville (1807–1855) in 1821. Other publications by Bloomfield included Good Tidings (written in praise of inoculation at the instigation of Edward Jenner
, 1804); Wild Flowers or Pastoral and Local Poetry (1806); and The Banks of the Wye (the poetic journal of a walking tour in the footsteps of Wordsworth, 1811).
Unfortunately Vernor and Hood, his publishers, went bankrupt and in 1812 Bloomfield was forced to move from London into a cottage rented to him by a friend in the Bedfordshire village of Shefford
. There one of his daughters died in 1814 and his wife became insane. In order to support himself he tried to carry on business as a bookseller but failed, and in his later years was reduced to making Aeolian harp
s which he sold among his friends. With failing eyesight, his own reason threatened by depression, he died in great poverty in 1823. In order to pay his debts and cover the funeral expenses, his collection of books and manuscripts, and his household effects, had to be auctioned. Allied to this fund-raising was the publication that year of his drama, Hazlewood Hall, and in the following year of The Remains of Robert Bloomfield, which included writing for children on which he had been working for some years and a selection of his correspondence.
, who was also a native of Suffolk. Both wrote much in iambic pentameter
couplets, both provide descriptions of rural life in its hardest and least inviting forms. Bloomfield, however, is more cheerful in tone and his verse is denser and more vigorous. Here, for instance, is the episode in "The Farmer's Boy" where Giles chops up turnips to feed the livestock in winter:
However, such verse is little varied from that of many of Bloomfield's contemporaries, such as James Montgomery
and Ebenezer Elliot whose names, like his, were well known in their time but are scarcely remembered now. Besides such formal productions, he told many light-hearted stories in octosyllabics, some of which are interesting for their employment of Suffolk dialect words, particularly in “The Horkey”. His work served as an inspiration to John Clare
, who began publishing his own rural poetry in 1820 and praised Bloomfield’s highly.
Robert’s brother, Nathaniel, also published a collection of poetry in 1803, An Essay on War, in Blank Verse, and Other Poems. Byron commented on the brothers in English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (lines 775-86), linking Robert's name favourably with other poets of humble beginnings such as Burns and Gifford but dismissing Nathaniel's writing as routine and uninspired. Byron returned to the charge in Hints from Horace with the apostrophe
Although a note makes it clear than Nathaniel is his principal target, he also seems to include 'his brother Bobby' in the accusation that Lofft 'has spoiled some excellent shoemakers and been accessory to the poetic undoing of many of the industrious poor'.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
labouring class poet whose work is appreciated in the context of other self-educated writers such as Stephen Duck
Stephen Duck
Stephen Duck was an English poet whose career reflected both the Augustan era's interest in "naturals" and its resistance to classlessness....
, Mary Collier
Mary Collier
Mary Collier was an English poet, perhaps best known for her poetic risposte to Stephen Duck, The Woman's Labour.Collier is an important figure in the self-taught, laboring-class tradition in eighteenth-century poetry, a tradition which also includes Duck, as well as Ann Yearsley and Mary...
and John Clare
John Clare
John Clare was an English poet, born the son of a farm labourer who came to be known for his celebratory representations of the English countryside and his lamentation of its disruption. His poetry underwent a major re-evaluation in the late 20th century and he is often now considered to be among...
.
Life
Robert Bloomfield was born of a poor family in the village of Honington, SuffolkHonington, Suffolk
Honington is a small village in the county of Suffolk in England, located near the county's border with Norfolk border. The village lies on the River Blackbourn, approximately 8 miles from Bury St Edmunds and 6 miles from Thetford, Norfolk....
. His father was a tailor and died of smallpox when the son was a year old. It was from his mother Elizabeth, who kept the village school, that he received the rudiments of education. Apprenticed at the age of eleven to a farming uncle, he was too small and frail for field labour; four years later he was sent to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to work as a shoemaker under his elder brother George. One of his early duties was to read the papers aloud while the others in the workshop were working and he became particularly interested in the poetry section of The London Magazine. Very soon he started writing in imitation and had his first poem, “The Village Girl”, published in 1786. When his brother George returned to Suffolk in that year, he set up on his own as a cobbler and in 1790 married Mary Ann Church, by whom he was to have five children.
The poem that made his reputation, The Farmer's Boy, was composed in a garret in Bell Alley, where half a dozen other men were at work; Bloomfield was able to carry some fifty to a hundred finished lines of it in his head at a time until there was opportunity to write them down. The manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
was declined by several publishers and was eventually shown by his brother George to Capel Lofft
Capel Lofft
Capel or Capell Lofft was an English lawyer, minor political figure and miscellaneous writer.Born in London, he was educated at Eton College, and Peterhouse, Cambridge, which he left to become a member of Lincoln's Inn...
, a radical Suffolk squire of literary tastes, who arranged for its publication with woodcuts by Thomas Bewick
Thomas Bewick
Thomas Bewick was an English wood engraver and ornithologist.- Early life and apprenticeship :Bewick was born at Cherryburn House in the village of Mickley, in the parish of Ovingham, Northumberland, England, near Newcastle upon Tyne on 12 August 1753...
in 1800. The success of the poem was remarkable, over 25,000 copies being sold in the next two years. Also reprinted in several American editions, it appeared in German translation in Leipzig, translated into French as Le Valet du Fermier in Paris, and in Italian translation in Milan; there was even a Latin translation of parts of it, De Agricolae Puero, Anglicano Poemate celeberrimo excerptum, et in morem Latini Georgice redditum, by the lively Suffolk vicar Dr William Clubbe (1745–1814). The poem was particularly admired by the Suffolk-born painter John Constable
John Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
who used couplets from it as tags to two paintings: a 'Ploughing Scene' (shown at the Royal Academy in 1814) and 'A Harvest Field, Reapers, Gleaners' (shown at the British Institution in 1817), which he noted as deriving from 'Bloomfield's poem'.
While this success helped reduce his poverty for a while, it also took him away from his work. As a result the Earl of Grafton
Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, KG, PC , styled Earl of Euston between 1747 and 1757, was a British Whig statesman of the Georgian era...
, who lived at Euston Hall
Euston Hall
Euston Hall is a country house, with park by William Kent and Capability Brown located in Euston, small village located just south of Thetford in Suffolk, England. It is the family home of the Dukes of Grafton....
near the village of Bloomfield's birth, settled on him a small annuity and used his influence to gain him employment in the Seal Office to the King’s Bench Court and then at Somerset House
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It...
, but he worked in neither for long. Meanwhile Bloomfield's reputation was increased by the appearance of his Rural Tales (1802), several poems of which were set to music by his brother Isaac. Another of them, "The Miller's Maid", was made an opera by John Davy (1763–1824) in 1804 and formed the basis for a two-act melodrama by John Faucit Saville (1807–1855) in 1821. Other publications by Bloomfield included Good Tidings (written in praise of inoculation at the instigation of Edward Jenner
Edward Jenner
Edward Anthony Jenner was an English scientist who studied his natural surroundings in Berkeley, Gloucestershire...
, 1804); Wild Flowers or Pastoral and Local Poetry (1806); and The Banks of the Wye (the poetic journal of a walking tour in the footsteps of Wordsworth, 1811).
Unfortunately Vernor and Hood, his publishers, went bankrupt and in 1812 Bloomfield was forced to move from London into a cottage rented to him by a friend in the Bedfordshire village of Shefford
Shefford, Bedfordshire
Shefford is a small town and civil parish located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. At the 2001 census it had a population of 4,928, although this was estimated to have grown to 5,770 by 2007.-History:...
. There one of his daughters died in 1814 and his wife became insane. In order to support himself he tried to carry on business as a bookseller but failed, and in his later years was reduced to making Aeolian harp
Aeolian harp
An aeolian harp is a musical instrument that is "played" by the wind. It is named for Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of the wind. The traditional aeolian harp is essentially a wooden box including a sounding board, with strings stretched lengthwise across two bridges...
s which he sold among his friends. With failing eyesight, his own reason threatened by depression, he died in great poverty in 1823. In order to pay his debts and cover the funeral expenses, his collection of books and manuscripts, and his household effects, had to be auctioned. Allied to this fund-raising was the publication that year of his drama, Hazlewood Hall, and in the following year of The Remains of Robert Bloomfield, which included writing for children on which he had been working for some years and a selection of his correspondence.
The poetry
Bloomfield's poetry invites comparison with that of George CrabbeGeorge Crabbe
George Crabbe was an English poet and naturalist.-Biography:He was born in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, the son of a tax collector, and developed his love of poetry as a child. In 1768, he was apprenticed to a local doctor, who taught him little, and in 1771 he changed masters and moved to Woodbridge...
, who was also a native of Suffolk. Both wrote much in iambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter is a commonly used metrical line in traditional verse and verse drama. The term describes the particular rhythm that the words establish in that line. That rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables; these small groups of syllables are called "feet"...
couplets, both provide descriptions of rural life in its hardest and least inviting forms. Bloomfield, however, is more cheerful in tone and his verse is denser and more vigorous. Here, for instance, is the episode in "The Farmer's Boy" where Giles chops up turnips to feed the livestock in winter:
-
-
- On GILES, and such as Giles, the labour falls,
- To strew the frequent load where hunger calls.
- On driving gales sharp hail indignant flies,
- And sleet, more irksome still, assails his eyes;
- Snow clogs his feet; or if no snow is seen,
- The field with all its juicy store to screen,
- Deep goes the frost, till every root is found
- A rolling mass of ice upon the ground.
- No tender ewe can break her nightly fast,
- Nor heifer strong begin the cold repast,
- Till Giles with pond'rous beetle foremost go,
- And scatt'ring splinters fly at every blow;
- When pressing round him, eager for the prize,
- From their mixt breath warm exhalations rise.
-
However, such verse is little varied from that of many of Bloomfield's contemporaries, such as James Montgomery
James Montgomery
James Montgomery was a British editor, hymnwriter and poet. He was particularly associated with humanitarian causes such as the campaigns to abolish slavery and to end the exploitation of child chimney sweeps....
and Ebenezer Elliot whose names, like his, were well known in their time but are scarcely remembered now. Besides such formal productions, he told many light-hearted stories in octosyllabics, some of which are interesting for their employment of Suffolk dialect words, particularly in “The Horkey”. His work served as an inspiration to John Clare
John Clare
John Clare was an English poet, born the son of a farm labourer who came to be known for his celebratory representations of the English countryside and his lamentation of its disruption. His poetry underwent a major re-evaluation in the late 20th century and he is often now considered to be among...
, who began publishing his own rural poetry in 1820 and praised Bloomfield’s highly.
Robert’s brother, Nathaniel, also published a collection of poetry in 1803, An Essay on War, in Blank Verse, and Other Poems. Byron commented on the brothers in English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (lines 775-86), linking Robert's name favourably with other poets of humble beginnings such as Burns and Gifford but dismissing Nathaniel's writing as routine and uninspired. Byron returned to the charge in Hints from Horace with the apostrophe
-
-
- Hark to those lines, narcotically soft,
- The cobbler-laureats sing to Capel Lofft! (lines 733-4)
-
Although a note makes it clear than Nathaniel is his principal target, he also seems to include 'his brother Bobby' in the accusation that Lofft 'has spoiled some excellent shoemakers and been accessory to the poetic undoing of many of the industrious poor'.