The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume IV.Cibber, Theophilus
General
The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume IV.
Cibber, Theophilus
Poets, English -- Biography -- Early works to 1800; Poets, Irish -- Biography -- Early works to 1800
A man of low extraction, and who never received any regular education.
He was an imitator of the famous Butler, and wrote his Reformation, a
poem, with an aim at the same kind of humour which has so remarkably
distinguished Hudibras. 'Of late years, says Mr. Jacob, he has kept a
public house in the city, but in a genteel way.' Ward was, in his
own droll manner, a violent antagonist to the Low Church Whigs and in
consequence, of this, drew to his house such people as had a mind
to indulge their spleen against the government, by retailing little
stories of treason. He was thought to be a man of strong natural
parts, and possessed a very agreeable pleasantry of temper. Ward was
much affronted when he read Mr. Jacob's account, in which he mentions
his keeping a public house in the city, and in a book called Apollo's
Maggot, declared this account to be a great falsity, protesting that
his public house was not in the City, but in Moorfields[A].
The chief of this author's pieces are,
Hudibras Redivivus, a political Poem.
Don Quixote, translated into Hudibrastic Verse.
Ecclesiae & Fastio, a Dialogue between Bow-steeple Dragon, and the
Exchange Grasshopper. A Ramble through the Heavens, or The Revels of
the Gods.
The Cavalcade, a Poem.
Marriage Dialogues, or A Poetical Peep into the State of Matrimony.
A Trip to Jamaica.
The Sots Paradise, or The Humours of a Derby Alehouse.
A Battle without Bloodshed, or Military Discipline Buffoon'd.
All Men Mad, or England a Great Bedlam, 4to. 1704.
The Double Welcome, a Poem to the Duke of Marlborough.
Apollo's Maggot in his Cups, or The Whimsical Creation of a Little
Satirical Poet; a Lyric Ode, dedicated to Dickey Dickenson, the witty,
but deformed Governor of Scarborough Spaw, 8vo. 1729.
The Ambitious Father, or The Politician's Advice to his Son; a Poem in
five Cantos, 1733, the last work he left finished.
Mr. Ward's works, if collected, would amount to five volumes in 8vo.
but he is most distinguished by his London Spy, a celebrated work in
prose.
[Footnote A: Notes on the Dunciad.]
* * * * *
Sir ROGER L'ESTRANGE,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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