BLOOMFIELD, ROBERT (1766-1823), English poet, was born of humble parents, at the village of Honington, Suffolk. He was apprenticed at the age of I 1 to a farmer, but he was too small and frail for field labour, and four years later he came to London to work for a shoemaker. The poem that made his reputation, The Farmer's Boy, was written in a garret in Bell alley. The manuscript, declined by several publishers, fell into the hands of Capell Loff t, who arranged for its publication with woodcuts by Bewick in 1800. The success of the poem was remarkable, over 25,00o copies being sold in the next two years. His reputation was increased by the appearance of his Rural Tales (1802), News from the Farm (1804), Wild Flowers (1806), and The Banks of the Wye (181 1) . Influential friends attempted to provide for Bloomfield, but the poet died in poverty at Shefford, Bedfordshire. His Remains in Poetry and Verse appeared in 1824.