risen to eminence were, on the paternal side at least, of humbler origin than Henry Kirke White. His father, John White, was a butcher at Nottingham; but his mother, who bore the illustrious name of Neville, is said to have belonged to a respectable family in Staffordshire. He was born at Nottingham on the 21st of March, 1785; and in his earliest years indications were observed of the genius for which he was afterwards distinguished. In his poem "Childhood," he has graphically described the little school where, between the age of three and five, he Henry Kirke White CONTENTS "enter'd, though with toil and pain, The low vestibule of learning's fane." The venerable dame by whom he was CONTENTS "inured to alphabetic toils," and whose worth he gratefully commemorates, had the discernment to perceive her charge's talents, and even foretold his future celebrity: CONTENTS "And, as she gave my diligence its praise, Talk'd of the honour of my future days." If he did not deceive himself, it was at this period that his imagination became susceptible of poetic associations. Speaking of the eagerness with which he left the usual sports of children to listen to tales of imaginary woe, and of the effect which they produced, he says, CONTENTS "Beloved moment! then 't was first I caught The first foundation of romantic thought; Then first I shed bold Fancy's thrilling tear, Then first that Poesy charm'd mine infant ear. Soon stored with much of legendary lore, The sports of childhood charm'd my soul no more; Far from the scene of gaiety and noise, Far, far from turbulent and empty joys, I hied me to the thick o'erarching shade, And there, on mossy carpet, listless laid; While at my feet the rippling runnel ran, The days of wild romance antique I'd scan; Soar on the wings of fancy through the air, To realms of light, and pierce the radiance there." The peculiar disposition of his mind, having thus early displayed itself, every day added to its force. Study and abstraction were his greatest pleasures, and a
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