George Crabbe (Crabbe George)

(1754-1832)
Born December 24, 1754 in Aldeburgh (Suffolk) in the family clerk customs. Aldeburgh, fisherman's port in the North Sea, the town was poor and wretched, and the landscape of those places gave special color to the poetry of Crabbe. In 13 years he went into teaching, then became assistant doctor in Woodbridge. There he met and became engaged to his future (from 1783) his wife Sara Elmi and seriously took up poetry.
In 1774 Crabb graduated from the teachings and began to practice in Aldeburgh, but soon went to London to try his luck in the literary field. There, his first great poem Library (The Library). Crabb decided to take orders and returned to Aldeburgh, this time the parish priest. His most probably known poem Village (The Village) appeared in May 1783. By winter he was vicar in Staterne (Lincolnshire). In 1785 was published newspaper poem (The Newspaper); next, parish lists (The Parish Register), published only in 1807. All these years, Crabb gave the parish and family care. Of his seven children only two survived. The audience enthusiastically took Lists. Emboldened by the new success, Crabb wrote the Town (The Borough, 1810), Tales in verse (Tales in Verse, 1812) and Tales of the estate (Tales of the Hall, 1819).

His stories in verse, marked by deep penetration into the characters and accurate depiction of society, but, above all, imbued with unique atmosphere. Like the landscapes of Suffolk, the poetry of Crabbe filled with quiet beauty and bright beauty, but it always felt the presence of powerful natural forces, as in the volatile sea.

After his wife died in 1813, Crabb was coming in Trowbridge (Wiltshire). With national fame, he remained a modest man and a conscientious parish priest. Crabb died in Trowbridge February 3, 1832.