Changes

==Dryden==

==Dryden==

Although bestowing the title of “poet laureate” on court poets and according them stipends was a long tradition in England, having been granted to such figures as [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], John Skelton, and Ben Jonson, the official position was not created until 1668.<ref>“Who was the first Poet Laureate?” https://poetrysociety.org.uk/question/who-was-the-first-poet-laureate/</ref> [[Charles II]] appointed [[John Dryden]] to this post, and he received a salary of “one hundred pounds a year and a tierce of wine.”<ref>"The Life of Dryden,” by Samuel Johnson. https://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/johnsons/lives/playrite.htm</ref> Scholar Richard Garnett, in ''The Age of Dryden'', noting the poets are often in the forefront of intellectual revolutions, sums up Dryden’s contributions to the Restoration era in which he lived and flourished by describing him as “the foremost writer of his country in his own day.” Garnett cites Dryden’s “great and versatile” powers in the fields of lyric poetry, drama, and criticism, and praises his “ample endowment” of “divine insanity without which, as Plato truly says, no one can be a poet.”<ref>''The Age of Dryden'', by Richard Garnett. p.39 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/39817/39817-h/39817-h.htm</ref> Dryden remained Poet Laureate until 1688, when he fell out of royal favor for refusing to swear allegiance to William and Mary following the [[Glorious Revolution]]. It was Dryden’s successor Thomas Shadwell who began the custom of presenting official verses on special occasions.

Although bestowing the title of “poet laureate” on court poets and according them stipends was a long tradition in England, having been granted to such figures as [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], John Skelton, and Ben Jonson, the official position was not created until 1668.<ref>“Who was the first Poet Laureate?” https://poetrysociety.org.uk/question/who-was-the-first-poet-laureate/</ref> [[Charles II]] appointed [[John Dryden]] to this post, and he received a salary of “one hundred pounds a year and a tierce of wine.” <ref>"The Life of Dryden,” by Samuel Johnson. https://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/johnsons/lives/playrite.htm</ref> Scholar Richard Garnett, in ''The Age of Dryden'', noting that poets are often in the forefront of intellectual revolutions, sums up Dryden’s contributions to the Restoration era in which he lived and flourished by describing him as “the foremost writer of his country in his own day.” Garnett cites Dryden’s “great and versatile” powers in the fields of lyric poetry, drama, and criticism, and praises his “ample endowment” of “divine insanity without which, as Plato truly says, no one can be a poet.” <ref>''The Age of Dryden'', by Richard Garnett. p.39 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/39817/39817-h/39817-h.htm</ref> Dryden remained Poet Laureate until 1688, when he fell out of royal favor for refusing to swear allegiance to William and Mary following the [[Glorious Revolution]]. It was Dryden’s successor Thomas Shadwell who began the custom of presenting official verses on special occasions.

==Tennyson==

==Tennyson==

Alfred [[Tennyson]], 1st Baron Tennyson, was named Poet Laureate following the death of [[William Wordsworth]]. His most famous works include patriotic poems like “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” and reflect on the role of empire through his treatment of mythological heroes such as [[King Arthur]] and [[Ulysses]]. According to W.J. Long, Tennyson was “the voice of a whole people,” the representative man of the Victorian age who expressed the nation’s spirit and occupied “the summit of poetry in England” during his lifetime.<ref>''English Literature'', by W.J. Long. p. 457.</ref> Tennyson—the only man to ever be raised to the peerage on the basis of his poetry alone—held this position for 42 years (1850-1892), the longest incumbency of any Poet Laureate.<ref>https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Lord-Tennyson</ref> In the twentieth century, British poet John Masefield occupied the post for 37 years. <ref>https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-masefield</ref>  

Alfred [[Tennyson]], 1st Baron Tennyson, was named Poet Laureate following the death of [[William Wordsworth]]. His most famous works include patriotic poems like “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” and reflect on the role of empire through his treatment of mythological heroes such as [[King Arthur]] and [[Ulysses]]. According to W.J. Long, Tennyson was “the voice of a whole people,” the representative man of the Victorian era who expressed the nation’s spirit and occupied “the summit of poetry in England” during his lifetime.<ref>''English Literature'', by W.J. Long. p. 457.</ref> Tennyson—the only man to ever be raised to the peerage on the basis of his poetry alone—held this position for 42 years (1850-1892), the longest incumbency of any Poet Laureate.<ref>https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Lord-Tennyson</ref> In the twentieth century, British poet John Masefield occupied the post for 37 years. <ref>https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-masefield</ref>  

=Modern office holders=

=Modern office holders=