Darley, George

(1795-1846)

   Born in Dublin, and after leaving Trinity College, Dublin, he chose to be a writer, which caused him to be estranged from his family. In London in 1821 he was critic for the London Magazine (under the signature of John Lacy) and other journals, and dramatic reviewer of the Athenæum. In his own day, Darley's greatest successes were his popular scientific treatises on geometry, algebra, and trigonometry, though his early literary works were less successful. However, in more recent times his unfinished lyrical epic Nepenthe (1835), regarded as unreadable at the time with its imagery and symbolism, has become more popular. He suffered from a life-long serious stammer, which seems to have caused him to be reclusive. His main publications: The Errors of Ecstacie, 1822. Lilian of the Vale, 1826. Sylvia, or the May Queen, 1827. Thomas à Becket, 1840. Ethelstan, 1841. Some of his poems: "Compassion," "Maid Marian's Song," "Nepenthe," "On the Death of a Recluse," "Sylvia; or, The May Queen," "The Elfin Pedlar," "The Enchanted Spring," "The Fallen Star," "The Nightingale and the Thorn."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). The Book of a Thousand Poems: A Family Treasury. J. Murray Macbain, ed. Peter Bedrick Books, 1983. The Book of Irish Verse: An Antholog y of Irish Poetry from the Sixth Century to the Present. John Montague, ed. Macmillan, 1974. 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 Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.