Genre: Poetry
Chapter: 10
Listen:
The Seasons is a series of four long poems in blank verse by the Scottish poet James Thomson, each poem describing one of the four seasons. The poems are replete with various scenes of nature described with loving detail, as well as Thomson’s view of the proper relationship between humans and nature, which anticipates the attitudes of the Romantics. “Spring,” which was published in 1728, first brought Thomson to mainstream attention. He followed it up with “Summer,” “Winter,” and “Autumn,” publishing all four as The Seasons in 1730. It is in large part because of the reputation he garnered from the publication of The Seasons that the critic William Hazlitt called Thomson “the best and most original of our descriptive poets.” (Summary by Abe Nemon)