THOMSON, JAMES ( 1700-48). A Scottish poet, born at Ednam, a village in Roxburghshire, where his father was minister. After attending school at Jedburgh Abbey by the Tweed, lie was sent to the University of Edinburgh (115) with a view to the Church. Forsaking all thAght of the ministry, he went to London to seek fame and fortune in poetri (1725). Though poor, he was well received by the Duke of Mont rose and others, who helped him bring out 11'inter (1726). This poem was followed by Summer (1727) and Spring (1728). In 1730 appeared A at ainn, bound with the previous poems, under the title of The Seasons. These poems, issued separately and collectively, were from the first successful, and were exceedingly popular for a full century. They marked the return of blank verse, and a feeling for nature, of which there had been very few traces since Milton. With The Seasons the literary historian dates the beginning of the romantic movement in English literature. Appointed in 1730 tutor to the son of Sir Charles Talbot, afterward Lord Chancellor, Thomson traveled for three years in France and Italy. On the death of his pupil (1733), he returned to London and was imme diately appointed by the Lord Chancellor secre tary of briefs, a sinecure, at a salary of £300 a year. lie was now able to settle in a pretty cot tage at Richmond. The death of his patron in 1737 put an end to his sinecure; but through Lyttleton he obtained from the Prince of Wales a pension of £100 (1738). At this time he re vised The Seasons, enlarging greatly each poem. The new edition was published in 1744. In 1740 appeared The Masque of Alfred, written by Thomson and David Mallet and containing Thom son's famous ode, Britannia," the national patriotic hymn of England. At Richmond, too,
was written Thomson's finest poem, The Castle of Indolence 11748). For if lie employed the Spenserian stanza. The poem is exquisitely col ored and reveals here and there rare gleams of imagination. Besides these significant and beautiful poems, Thomson was the author of several tragedies, of which Sophonisba, produced at Drury Lane (February 28. 1730), was the first, and Tancred and •sigi.snrunda, produced at Dr•ur;y Lane by Garrick (March IS, 1745), was the most successful. A cenotaph to his memory was erected in Westminster Abbey by the side of Shakespeare's.
The Seasons had a wide vogue in both France and Germany. where translations and imitations were numerous. Thomson was thus a forerunner of the romantic revival, not only for England, hut also for the Continent. The best edition of his Works is the Aldine (London, 1897). edited with a biography of Rev. D. C. Tovey. The hest studies are James Thomson, sa rie et scs ceurrcs, by Le'on Morel (Paris, 1595) ; and the essay in Celaprit('s anglaises, by Lefevre Deu mier (Paris. 1895). An account of Thomson's influence in France is given in Oosmopolitisme littri•aire an XVILleme siecle, by Joseph Texte (Paris. 1895; Eng. trans. by J. W. Matthews, New York, 1899). Consult also Dr. Johnson in Lives of the Poets•; and the Life by W. Bayne, in the "Famous Scots" series (Edinburgh, 1898). See ROMANTICISM.