The Collected Poems of Laurence Whyte

Though his name might not be familiar to many twenty-first century readers, Laurence Whyte (d.1753) is an important missing link in eighteenth-century Ireland's literary and musical histories. A rural poet who established himself in Dublin as a teacher of mathematics and as an active member (and poetic chronicler) of the much admired and supported Charitable Musical Society, Whyte was a poet of considerable talent and dexterity, and his body of work yields a wealth of insight into the intersecting cultures of his time and place. Published in 1740 and 1742, Whyte's writing, by turns humorous and poignant, insightful and nostalgic, straddled the worlds of Gaelic and Anglo-Irish, of the rural midlands and the capital, of Catholic and Protestant. Some of the dualities explored in his verse were present, to varying extents, in the work of Jonathan Swift and Oliver Goldsmith. In matters poetical, political and cultural, Whyte is an important, though as yet neglected and unstudied, figure. This edition, comprehensively introduced and annotated, retrieves him from that neglect.

AcknowledgmentsIntroductionA Note on the TextThe Preface [to the original 1740/42 editions]To Mr. Allan Ramsay, on the Author's making him a Present of one of his Books.AN ESSAY ON DUNNING.A DISSERTATION ON FASHIONS (Or a Poem Ala-mode).THE PARTING CUP, Or, The HUMOURS of Deoch an Doruis.The Captain's Retreat. A Tale in two Canto's.The Broken Mug. A Tale.A Short View of Parnassus, being a Sequel to the Broken Mug.Some Critical Annotations, on various Subjects, which have been handled by several Authors.A Dissertation on Italian, and Irish Musick.A POEM in Praise of Toast and ButterAN ELEGY on the much lamented Death of Patt. BeaghanThe Hue and Cry after the Clieve-Boy, Dublin Feb. 22nd. 1725.The Inchantment. A Tale.The Fatigues of a Faithful CurateTo the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, on the publishing of a new Edition of his Works in four Volumes.TO Mrs. Mary and Elizabeth Burgh, Daughters of the Honourable Captain Thomas BurghAn ELEGY on the much Lamented Death of that Excellent Mathematician, Mr. ROBERT STEELEAn ELEGY, On the much Lamented Death of Mr. Arthur JudgeA Divine POEM on the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, written December the 25th, 1733.A POEM on a Hexagon fortified according to Monsieur Vauban's MethodAn ENIGMA.ANOTHER.To the Right Honourable Nicholas, Lord Viscount NettervilleA Funeral ELEGY on the much lamented Death of Frances, Lady Dutchess of TyrconnelOn St. Patrick's-Eve. Dublin, Friday March the 16th, 1738.To Mr. Am--se F--l, on the Birth of his first-born RichardThe Old Westmeath-Ballad; or, Young Bobb's Lamentation for the Death of Old SaraAn Occasional PROLOGUE to the Miser, acted June the 23rd. 1736An Epithalamium on the Nuptials of Min-heer Van Hoey, with Miss B-, by Way of Letter to Mr. G- F-r.A BURLESQUE upon MUSICK, Or a CURE for a SCOLD; together with a Recipe to drive away Rats and Mice. By Dr. C--.An Historical POEM, On the Rise and Progress of the Charitable and Musical SocietyAn Occasional Prologue design'd for the Provok'd Husband, or a Journey to LondonAn Elegy on the much lamented Death of the Right Honourable Henry, Lord Viscount DillonMr. Barnaby Harrington's Apology for the Erratas, in his Book call'd, Barnabyae Itinerarium, a new English Version.[Poems added in the second edition (1742)]A POEM ON The general Effect and Excellency of MusickFAMINE: A Poem.PLENTY: A Poem.GAFFER and GAMMER, with the Humours of a bad Landlord. A TALE.Some Yearly OBSERVATIONS on Astrologers.A POETICAL Description of Mr. NEAL'S new Musick-Hall in Fishamble-StreetReady Wit as good as ready MoneyFour different ALPHABETS in Verse to induce Children to Read and Write.The seven Liberal Arts, Grammar, Rhetorick, Logic, Musick, Arithmetick, Geometry, and AstronomyA Translation of the Motto to Cardinal Fleury's Picture.On the Emperor Domitian's return to Rome.To the Revd. Dr.-- on his going to reside in the Country.The Character of an Honest Jolly Companion from the lrish Language.To my much honoured, and well beloved Friend--on presenting him with two Large Maps, one of the World, and another of Europe.Some Letters of Acknowledgment wrote by a Miss of eight Years old, to her Father and MotherTo all the Worthy Gentlemen who frequent P-'s Coffee-House. The humble PETITION, of Tom G-y.On a Lawyer's old Breeches.On the Death of Sir Isaac Newton, Knight, and President of the Royal Society.Appendix 1From Faulkner's Dublin Journal, 17-20 April, 1742.On Mr. Handel's performance of his Oratorio, called the Messiah.Appendix 2List of SubscribersBibliographyIndexAbout the Editor