Edward Young (1638-1765) was one of the most influential British writers of the eighteenth century. Although primarily known as a poet on the back of his monumental Night Thoughts (1742-46), a religious consolation in blank verse which established his place as a proto-Romantic writer and as a member of the “graveyard school”, Young was also a satirist, a tragedian, and an important contributor to literary criticism. Although biographer Harold Forster suggests Young was “a poet born in the wrong age” (Forster, 1986, 1), tracking Young’s literary career is a useful way to trace changing literary tastes from the early to mid-century, exemplifying the paradigmatic shift from neoclassical ideals of imitation and formal restraint to those of originality and imaginative spontaneity. Indeed, it also serves to highlight Young’s role in shaping this transformation.
Young was baptized...
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Citation: Parisot, Eric. "Edward Young". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 February 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4840, accessed 09 June 2026.]
