John Hamilton Reynolds

John Hamilton Reynolds Poems

John Hamilton Reynolds Biography

John Hamilton Reynolds (1794 -1852) was an English poet, satirist, critic, and playwright. He was a close friend and correspondent of poet John Keats whose letters to Reynolds constitute a significant body of Keats' poetic thought[1]. Reynolds was also the brother in law of the writer and humorist Thomas Hood who was married to his sister Jane. Reynolds was born in Shrewsbury to George Reynolds, teacher at Shrewsbury School and Charlotte Cox Reynolds. His mother was related to the Hamilton family, from which Reynolds received his middle name, which included the Gothic writer William Thomas Beckford. Reynolds attended Shrewsbury School, then enrolled at St Paul's School in London when the family moved in 1806, completing formal education in 1810. Early career He took a junior clerkship in an insurance office, the Amicable Society for Perpetual Assurance, working there at least until 1816. Meanwhile, he pursued his self-education by reading widely in classical and English literature and also began writing poetry. He was encouraged in his literary interests by his friend John F M Dovaston, a former student of Reynolds's father. Literary works Reynolds's first published poem, "Ode to Friendship" appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1812. He continued publishing poems and articles and received favorable notice from a number of critics and poets, including Lord Byron, whose work Reynolds had closely imitated. Later he published The Eden of Imagination, imitating Wordsworth, who also encouraged him. John Keats His friend Leigh Hunt supported his writing and introduced him to another young poet Hunt greatly admired, the then unknown John Keats. Keats and Reynolds became friends, encouraging and challenging each other in their quest for literary recognition. Personal life In 1822, he married Eliza Drewe, which led to a friendship and literary collaboration with her brother-in-law, Thomas Hood. Together the two wrote several comic and satirical pieces, the most popular being Odes and Addresses to Great People in 1825. Tragedy struck in 1835 when his ten-year-old daughter Lucy died. He was bankrupt in 1838 but continued earning a small income writing. In 1847 he moved to the Isle of Wight as assistant clerk in a county court. Reynolds became depressed and started drinking heavily, although he was not without friends and admirers to the end. He died at Newport.)

The Best Poem Of John Hamilton Reynolds

Sonnet Iii. On Robin Hood

With coat of Lincoln green and mantle too,
And horn of ivory mouth, and buckle bright,
And arrows wing'd with peacock-feathers light,
And trusty bow well gather'd of the yew,--
Stands Robin Hood: -- and near, with eyes of blue
Shining through dusk hair, like the stars of night,
A habited in pretty forest plight,--
His green-wood beauty sits, young as the dew.

Oh gentle-tressed girl! Maid Marian!
Are thine eyes bent upon the gallant game
That stray in the merry Sherwood: thy sweet fame
Can never, never die. And thou, high man,
Would we might pledge thee with thy silver Can
Of Rhenish, in the woods of Nottingham!

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