Matthew Green (poet) 1147266 203847560 2008-04-06T22:12:11Z Art LaPella 94794 I'm reorganizing this disambiguation. If you wanted another Matthew Green you wouldn't say Matthew Green (poet). '''Matthew Green''' ([[1696]]&ndash;[[1737]]), was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[poetry|poet]] born of [[Nonconformist]] parents. For many years he held a post in the [[custom house]]. The few anecdotes that have been preserved show him to have been as witty as his poems would lead one to expect: on one occasion, when the government was about to cut off funds that paid for milk for the custom house cats, Green sumbitted a petition in their name, winning a reprieve.<ref>''British Authors Before 1800: A Biographical Dictionary'', edited by [[Stanley Kunitz|Stanley J. Kunitz]] and Howard Haycraft, New York, The H. W. Wilson Company, 1952.</ref> He died unmarried at his lodging in Nags Head Court, [[Gracechurch Street]], [[London]] in 1737. His ''Grotto'', a poem on [[Caroline of Ansbach|Queen Caroline]]'s grotto at [[Richmond, London|Richmond]] was printed in [[1732 in literature|1732]]; and his chief poem, ''The Spleen'', in [[1737 in literature|1737]] with a preface by his friend [[Richard Glover]]. These and some other short poems were printed in [[Robert Dodsley]]'s collection ([[1748 in literature|1748]]), and subsequently in various editions of the British poets. They were edited in [[1796 in literature|1796]] with a preface by [[John Aikin]] and in [[1858 in literature|1858]] by [[Robert Aris Willmott]] with the poems of [[Thomas Gray]] and others. ''The Spleen'', which was not originally intended for publication, is an epistle to [[Cuthbert Jackson]], advocating cheerfulness, exercise and a quiet content as remedies. It is full of witty sayings. Thomas Gray said of it: "There is a profusion of wit everywhere; reading would have formed his judgment, and harmonized his verse, for even his wood-notes often break out into strains of real poetry and music". Despite this praise, Green is thought of as a "one-poem" poet, to the point that he became known as "Spleen-Green." In an age of orthodoxy, Green had an original turn of mind. His idiosyncratic conversation 'occasioned one of the commissioners of the Customs, a very dull man, to observe that he did not know how it was, but Green always expressed himself in a different manner from other people'.<ref>Alexander Chalmers, ''The Works of the English Poets'', 21 Vols. (London: J. Johnson, 1810) xv. p 158.</ref> Green is perhaps best remembered (if at all) for witty [[aphorism]]s, such as: * "By happy alchemy of mind / They turn to pleasure all they find." * "Laugh and be well." * "Fling but a stone, the giant dies." (''The Spleen'') * "Though pleased to see the dolphins play / I mind my compass and my way." (''The Spleen'') ==References== <references/> ==External links== * [[q:Matthew Green|WikiQuote Matthew Green]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Matthew}} [[Category:1696 births]] [[Category:1737 deaths]] [[Category:English poets]] {{England-poet-stub}}