Lovibond, Edward

(1724-1775)

   Born at Hampton, Middlesex, the son of a director of the East India Company, he was educated at Kingston-upon-Thames and at Magdalen College, Oxford. In his "Ode to Youth" he talks of his fortune of having enough money to enjoy the pleasures of a rural life. His contributions to World, a weekly newspaper-started in 1753-brought him recognition. His best-known "The Tears of Old May Day" appeared in many English anthologies and was said to be bettered only by Thomas Gray's (see entry) "Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard." Lovibond seems to have drawn his inspiration from Alexander Pope. His Poems on Several Occasions was published by his brother in 1785. Some of his poems: "A Dream," "Address to the Thames," "Dedication of Julia's Letter," "Imitation From Ossian's Poems," "Inscription on a Fountain," "Ode to Captivity," "On Rural Sports," "The Complaint of Cambria," "The Tears of Old May-Day," "Verses Written at Brighthelmstone."

   Sources: 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). Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (http://library.stanford.edu). 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 Works of the British Poets V. 9 (Dryden and Garth). J Sharpe, 1808.