Abstract
James Hervey (1714-1758) was a Church of England minister and writer, whose Meditations among the Tombs (1746) is now most notably recognised as a prose counterpart to contemporaneous “graveyard poetry” and for its proto-Gothic aesthetics. Educated at Oxford (and later in life at Cambridge), Hervey joined the Oxford Methodists under the influence of John Wesley in 1733, and was well acquainted with prominent evangelical clergymen such as George Whitefield, Isaac Watts and Philip Doddridge for much of his life. Describing himself as a “moderate Calvinist”, Hervey’s religious life was imbued with a devotion to the gospel and the renunciation of earthly things.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Literary Encyclopedia |
| Subtitle of host publication | exploring literature, history and culture |
| Editors | Paul Baines, Daniel Cook, Pat Rogers, Nicholas Seager |
| Publisher | The Literary Dictionary Company |
| Volume | 1.2.1.05 |
| ISBN (Print) | 1747-678X |
| Publication status | Published - 15 Feb 2017 |
Keywords
- poets
- proto-Gothics
- Graveyard poetry