Biographical Overview & Key Facts

Subject:

James Thomson (poet, born 1834)

Role / Field:

Scottish poet and journalist, best known for 'The City of Dreadful Night'

Born:

1834-11-23

Died:

1882-06-03

Century / Era:

1834s Historical Era

Database Source:

2Day Chrono-Wiki & Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Origins & Early Life

James Thomson (23 November 1834 – 3 June 1882), who wrote under the name Bysshe Vanolis, was a Scottish journalist, poet, and translator. He is remembered for The City of Dreadful Night (1874; 1880), a poetic allegory of urban suffering and despair. His pen name derives from the names of the poets Shelley and Novalis; both strong influences on him as a writer. Thomson's essays were written mainly for National Reformer, Secular Review, and Cope's Tobacco Plant.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His longer poems include "The Doom of a City" (1854) in four parts, "Vane's Story" (1865), and the Orientalist ballad "Weddah and Om-El-Bonain". He admired and translated the works of the Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi and Heinrich Heine. In the title of his biography of Thomson, Bertram Dobell dubbed him "the Laureate of Pessimism". Thomson was born in Port Glasgow, Scotland, and, at the age of eight (after his sister died and his father suffered a stroke), he was sent to London where he was raised in an orphanage, the Royal Caledonian Asylum on Chalk Road (later Caledonian Road after the asylum) near Holloway. At around this time, his mother died.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

He was trained as an army schoolmaster at the Royal Military Asylum...

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• 1834 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1834
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Frequently Asked Questions about James Thomson (poet, born 1834)