George Darley (1795–1846) was an Irish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

, and author of mathematical texts. Friends with such literary luminaries as

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, and

John Clare John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and his sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20t ...

, he was considered by some to be on a level with Tennyson in “poetic possibilities” in the 1840s, but in the words of famous literary critic

George Saintsbury George Edward Bateman Saintsbury, FBA (23 October 1845 – 28 January 1933), was an English critic, literary historian, editor, teacher, and wine connoisseur. He is regarded as a highly influential critic of the late 19th and early 20th cent ...

“he had the marks of a talent that never did what it had it in it to do.”

Biography

George Darley was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, to Arthur Darley and his wife Mary. The Darleys were an important Dublin family of their time, and related to the Guinnesses by marriage, Arthur's sister Mary having married Richard Guinness, whose uncle Arthur Guinness founded the Guinness brewing company. The Darleys also had a country house called Springfield in south County Dublin, near Enniskerry in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

, where George spent his early years. George was awarded a BA in mathematics and classics from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

in 1820. Having decided to follow a literary career, in 1821 he moved to London. He wrote poetry and plays in an attempt to break into literary circles, but had more luck getting published as a critic. During this period he supported himself by writing several mathematical texts for a series published by John Taylor (London) called Darley's Scientific Library. In later life, he fell into depression and died on 23 November 1846 in London. Playwright

Dion Boucicault Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the ...

was a nephew. His grandnephew was the Irish musician and music collector Arthur Warren Darley.

Works

Darley published his first poem, ''Errors of Ecstasie'', in 1822. He also wrote for the '' London Magazine'', under the pseudonym of John Lacy. In it appeared his story ''Lilian of the Vale'', later reprinted in his short-story collection ''The Labours of Idleness, or, Seven Nights' Experiments'' (1826), published under the pseudonym "Guy Penseval." Various other books followed, including ''Sylvia, or The May Queen'', a poem (1827). Thereafter Darley joined the '' Athenaeum'', in which he became a severe critic. He was also a dramatist and studied old English plays, editing those of

Beaumont and Fletcher Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather t ...

in 1840. His poem "It is not beauty I demand" was included by F. T. Palgrave in the first edition of his '' Golden Treasury'' as an anonymous lyric of the 17th century. Darley wrote a number of songs such as "I've been Roaming", once popular, and praised by

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

. He was also a mathematician, and published some treatises on the subject. His works included: *''Nepenthe'' *''Sylvia; or, The May Queen'' *''The Mermaidens' Vesper-Hymn'' *''The Sea-Bride'' *''Thomas à Beckett: A Dramatic Chronicle in Five Acts'' *''A System of Popular Algebra'' (John Taylor, London, 1826?). *''A System of Popular Geometry'' (John Taylor, London, 1826). *''A System of Popular Trigonometry'' (John Taylor, London, 1827). *''The Geometrical Companion'' (John Taylor, London, 1828). *''Familiar Astronomy'' (John Taylor, London, 1830).

Reputation

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classics, classical scholar and poet. He showed early promise as a student at the University of Oxford, but he failed his final examination in ''literae humaniores'' and t ...

said of a passage from his poem ''Nepenthe'', "Admirers of the sea may call that a lampoon or a caricature, but they cannot deny that it is life-like: the man who wrote it had seen the sea, and the man who reads it sees the sea again". Darley was a friend of such literary luminaries as

, and other writers such as Allan Cunningham and Monckton Milnes."Oxford Companion to English Literature", ed. Margaret Drabble, (Oxford University Press, 1985,) p.254. Many considered him on a with level with Tennyson in “poetic possibilities” in the 1840s;George Saintsbury, "a History of Nineteenth Century Literature (1780–1895)", The Macmillan Company, New York, 1906. Ch. 2. but, in the words of famous literary critic

, “he had the marks of a talent that never did what it had it in it to do.”Saintsbury, ibid. As a critic he was considered capable, but attracted some hostility with his savage treatment of authors he disliked."Oxford Companion to English Literature", ibid.

Arms

Notes

References

* * Attribution: *

External links

*
Selection of Darley's poems
*
Poems of Late George Darley

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darley, George 1795 births 1846 deaths Irish male poets 19th-century Irish mathematicians 19th-century Irish astronomers Writers from Dublin (city) 19th-century Irish poets Scientists from Dublin (city)