Poems »

Among the first native-born Anglo-American poets, Tompson was born into a family of zealous Puritans. He became a schoolmaster for several towns around Boston, his most famous pupil being Cotton Mather. Tompson’s fame as a poet arose from his volume New Englands Crisis (1676) and its revision New Englands Tears (London, 1676), a verse epic treating the war with the Algonkian Confederation during the 1670s as a test of the faith of the elect in New England. This poet’s best vein is satiric,—his favorite organ being the rhymed pentameter couplet, with a flow, a vigor, and an edge obviously caught from the contemporaneous verse of John Dryden. He has the partisanship, the exaggeration, the choleric injustice, that are common in satire; and like other satirists, failing to note the moral perspectives of history, he utters over again the stale and easy lie, wherein the past is held up as wiser and holier than the present. Though New England has had a life but little more than fifty years long, the poet sees within it the tokens of a hurrying degeneracy, in customs, in morals, in valor, in piety.

0 fans

List of poems by Benjamin Tompson 6 total

Sort:PopularA - ZChronologically
On A Fortification At Boston Begun By Women
 120 Views
added by anonymous
12 years ago
Rate it
Marlburyes Fate
 92 Views
added by anonymous
12 years ago
Rate it
A Neighbours Tears
 81 Views
added by anonymous
12 years ago
Rate it
Remarks On The Bright And Dark Side
 74 Views
added by anonymous
12 years ago
Rate it
The Grammarians Funeral
 71 Views
added by anonymous
12 years ago
Rate it
New-Englands Crisis
 66 Views
added by anonymous
12 years ago
Rate it

Share your thoughts on Benjamin Tompson's poems with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poet to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Benjamin Tompson" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poet/Benjamin+Tompson>.

    Missing a poem of Benjamin Tompson?

    Know another great poem from Benjamin Tompson? Don't keep it to yourself!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    3
    days
    8
    hours
    17
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Which of the following was the last to evolve?
    A Dithyramb
    B Tragedy
    C Invective
    D Epic poetry