The Borough (George Crabbe poem)
Encyclopedia
The Borough is a collection of poems by George Crabbe
published in 1810. Written in heroic couplet
s, the poems are arranged as a series of 24 letters, covering various aspects of borough life and detailing the stories of certain inhabitants’ lives.
Of the letters, the best known is that of Peter Grimes
in Letter XXII, which formed the basis for Benjamin Britten
’s opera. Letter XXI describes Abel Keene, a village schoolmaster and then a merchant's clerk who was led astray, lost his place and finally hanged himself.
The poem was begun in 1804, three years before the publication of The Parish Register, and demonstrates a clear development in Crabbe’s writing between the pastoral concerns shown in The Village
, and the concentration on the life stories of individuals as seen in the Tales.
George 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...
published in 1810. Written in heroic couplet
Heroic couplet
A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines. The rhyme is always masculine. Use of the heroic couplet was first pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in...
s, the poems are arranged as a series of 24 letters, covering various aspects of borough life and detailing the stories of certain inhabitants’ lives.
Of the letters, the best known is that of Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of George Crabbe's poem The Borough...
in Letter XXII, which formed the basis for Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
’s opera. Letter XXI describes Abel Keene, a village schoolmaster and then a merchant's clerk who was led astray, lost his place and finally hanged himself.
The poem was begun in 1804, three years before the publication of The Parish Register, and demonstrates a clear development in Crabbe’s writing between the pastoral concerns shown in The Village
The Village (poem)
The Village is one of the best known poems by the Englishman, George Crabbe, published in 1783. The poem contrasts the traditional representation of the rural idyll in Augustan poetry with the realities of village life....
, and the concentration on the life stories of individuals as seen in the Tales.