William Hazlitt (1778-1830)
England

I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is, prose,-words in their best order; poetry,-the best words in their best order. -Table Talk.

Born of a minister, Hazlitt as a young man was expected to be one as well. But after three years in Hackney Theological College in London, Hazlitt retired into literature, art, and philosophy. In 1798, he became acquainted with Coleridge and Wordsworth. In London he befriended Charles and Mary Lamb. In 1802, Hazlitt journeyed to Paris to attempt a career in art. After returning to England, he decided that his writing would reap more than his painting. In 1805, he published his first book, An Essay on the Principles of Human Action. In 1806 he began circulating a political phamphlet and compiled The Eloquence of the British Senate. From 1808 to 1812, Hazlitt married and wrote A New and Improved Grammar of the English Tongue (1810) and Life of Holcroft (1816). In 1812 he launched into philosophy, delivering lectures at the Russell Institution on the Rise and Progress of Modern Philosophy. The years from 1817 to 1819 marked his career as a journalist and involved himself with the Morning Chronicle, the Champion, the Times, the Edinburgh Review, and the Examiner. With A View of the English Stage (1818), Characters of Shakespeare's Plays (1817-1819), English Poets (1817-1819), and English Comic Writers (1817-1819), Dramatic Literature of the Age of Elizabeth (1820), he revived Elizabethan theater in England. Before his death, he immersed himself in journalism, writing various essays and contributing to various magazines. Nevertheless he made himself known as a great essayist, biographer, journalist and lecturer, and displayed a keenness of mind and a wide breadth of knowledge. His literary criticisms are distinguished for his great insight and his essays for his unique and diverse style. He is now considered one of the best English essayists.

Works

Lectures on the English Poets (1818)
Lectures on the English Comic Writers (1819)
Table Talk (1821-22)
The Spirit of the Age (1825)
Dramatic Literature of the Age of Elizabeth (1820)
"On Going a Journey," "My First Acquaintance with Poets," "On the Feeling of Immortality in Youth," and "Going to a Fight."

Sources:

Noyes, Russell. English Romantic Poetry and Prose. New York: Oxford University Press, 1956.