English poet and essayist whose verse associates him with the Graveyard School. He began publishing his works by the age of 15; by 18 he published his first volume of poems. They were not well received critically, although Robert Southey (who, in a wonderful coincidence, died on the same date on which Kirke was born) was supportive and encouraging. Kirke died of consumption (tuberculosis) at the age of 21 and Southey became his literary executor, publishing a collection of White's work in 1807. That volume, quite popular, cemented White's reputation as a poet whose untimely death was a tragic loss for poetry. White, for some reason, has been virtually ignored since the later 19th century, and rarely figures in discussions of the Romantic period or in Romantic anthologies.
Sites:
The Poet Henry Kirke White
Brief biographical note
[Nottinghamshire History]
Biographical note
[Wikipedia]
Brief note
[U Nottingham]
