Allingham, William

(1824-1889)

   Irish poet who through hard work and dedication improved his education to become a customs official. Around 1844 he contributed to Leigh Hunt's Journal, then in 1847 he met Leigh Hunt, who introduced him to other poets and writers. He was subeditor, then editor, of Fraser's Magazine. His main works are: Poems, with a Dedication to Leigh Hunt, 1850. Day and Night Songs, 1855 (illustrated by Dante Rossetti). The Ballad Book for the Golden Treasury series, 1864 (editor). Laurence Bloomfield in Irelandё 1864 (an enlightening social document of the era). Varieties in Prose, 1893 (three volumes published posthumously). Allingham's poetry is lyrical and descriptive and full of color. Two contrasting poems are "Autumnal Sonnet" and "The Fairies" (included in many children's anthologies). The symbolism of the former is of approaching autumn of life; the latter, often used in training for singers because of its vowel sounds and contrasting consonants, encourages the singer to rush along with the fairies and little men dressed in green jackets and red caps. Some of his other poems: "A Day-Dream's Reflection," "A Dream," "A Gravestone," "A Memory."

   Sources: County Donegal on the Internet (www.dun-na-ngall.com). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Poemhunter (www.poemhunter.com). Poetry Archive, William Allingham (www.poetryarchive.com). Sonnet Central (www.sonnets.org). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry. Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Family Album of Favorite Poems. Ernest P. Edward, ed. Grosset and Dunlap, 1959. The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.