Author: Smith, John William
Biography:
SMITH, John William (fl 1814)
Smith’s 1814 volume of verse is a substantial affair, 143 pages and some prelims, the contents including the whole of Book One and sample fragments from Books Two and Three of “The Terrors of Imagination,” followed by miscellaneous occasional poems, some comical and some sentimental. The preface indicates that most of the verses were produced “during a long and painful indisposition.” Several pieces were inspired by the theatre: prologues, epilogues, and an “Drury Lane Address” written for the opening of a private theatre in Rochester, Kent. The final poem in the collection is addressed with gratitude to the headmaster of the author’s school, Thomas Cherry, B.D., of Merchant Taylor’s in London. Two major reviews adopted opposing opinions. CR judged the author to have a “pleasing genius” but thought more highly of the grave than of the jocular poems, while MR considered it to be on the whole “a very dull performance” but liked the funny poems better than the serious ones. If Smith had any thoughts of releasing the remainder of the title poem, he did not act on them and is not known to have published anything else. In the absence of further information, his name produces too many candidates in the public records. The one thing that can be said with certainty about his identity is that he was not the jurist John William Smith, who would have been a child of five when the book came out. (CR 6 [1814], 314; MR 75 [1814], 99-100; findmypast.com 6 Nov. 2024; ODNB [John William Smith, 1809-45] 6 Nov. 2024)