Akenside, Mark

Akenside, Mark

▪ British poet and physician
born Nov. 9, 1721, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, Eng.
died June 23, 1770, London
 poet and physician, best known for his poem The Pleasures of Imagination, an eclectic philosophical essay that takes as its starting point papers on the same subject written by Joseph Addison for The Spectator. Written in blank verse derived from Milton's, it was modelled (as its preface states) on the Roman poets Virgil (the Georgics) and Horace (the Epistles). A debt to Virgil is certainly apparent in the way in which Akenside invests an essentially unpoetic subject—the abstractions of philosophic thought—with poetic form, through studied elevation of language and with considerable grace. The influence of Horace is clear in the skillfully handled transitions from one theme to another and the tact with which the entire subject is treated.

      Later adopting the ode as his favourite poetic form, Akenside was more than willing to consider himself the English Pindar, one of several aspects of his character that was satirized in Tobias Smollett's novel The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, in which Akenside appears as the physician in scenes set on the European continent.

      Akenside attended the University of Edinburgh, intending to become a minister but instead studying medicine. His first poem, “The Virtuoso,” in imitation of the Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser, appeared in 1737. The Pleasures of Imagination first appeared in three books in 1744. A fourth book was added later, and the whole poem was extensively revised, finally appearing posthumously in The Poems of Mark Akenside, M.D. (1772). Also in 1744 Akenside turned to satire in An Epistle to Curio, occasioned by the political about-face of William Pulteney, who professed Whig sympathies for years but then accepted the earldom of Bath from a Tory ministry. The following year Akenside published Odes on Several Subjects. He had, meanwhile, been unsuccessful in attempts to establish a medical practice either at Northampton or at Hampstead. In 1747, however, a friend established him in practice in a house in Bloomsbury Square, London. His reputation increased, and he was eventually made physician to the queen. Later works include “Hymn to the Naiads” and “To the Evening Star” (both 1746).

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  • Akenside, Mark — (1721 1770)    Northumbrian poet and physician from a Presbyterian family. He published his first poem, The Virtuoso, in Gentleman s Magazine at the age of sixteen and went on to publish over sixty poems in his short life. Although sent to… …   British and Irish poets

  • AKENSIDE, MARK —    an English physician, who wrote, among other productions and pieces, the Hymn to the Naiads, especially a poem entitled the Pleasures of Imagination, much quoted from at one time, and suggested by the study of Addison on the Imagination in the …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Akenside, Mark — (1721 1770)    Poet, s. of a butcher at Newcastle upon Tyne, gave early indications of talent, and was sent to the University of Edinburgh with the view of becoming a dissenting minister. While there, however, he changed his mind and studied for… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Mark Akenside — Sketch of Mark Akenside Born 9 November 1721(1721 11 09) Newcastle upon Tyne, England …   Wikipedia

  • Mark Akenside — Mark Akenside. Mark Akenside (né à Newcastle upon Tyne le 9 novembre 1721 décédé à Hampstead près de Londres le 23 juin 1770) est un poète anglais. Envoyé à l …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Akenside — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Mark Akenside (1721–1770), englischer Arzt und Schriftsteller Akenside steht für: Akenside (Schiff), Frachtdampfschiff aus Großbritannien Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zu …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Akenside — (spr. ēk nßaid ), Mark, engl. Dichter und Arzt, geb. 9. Nov. 1721 in Newcastle upon Tyne, gest. 23. Juni 1770 in London, studierte, unterstützt von der Gesellschaft der Dissenters, Theologie in Edinburg, dann in Leiden Medizin. Sein Lehrgedicht… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Akenside — (spr. éhk nßeid), Mark, engl. Arzt und Dichter, geb. 9. Nov. 1721 zu Newcastle am Tyne, gest. 23. Juni 1770 zu London als Leibarzt der Königin; Hauptwerk das Lehrgedicht »The pleasures of imagination« …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Akenside — biographical name Mark 1721 1770 English poet & physician …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Mark Akenside — Verdad Cuando la verdad se digna venir, su hermana libertad no estará lejos …   Diccionario de citas

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