{\b Thomas Hood}.

{\b Date of Birth}.: 1799

{\b Date of Death}.: 1845

{\b Works}.

Poet and humorist. He was assistant editor of the London Magazine (1821-23) 
and edited an array of periodicals including The Gem (1829), the Comic Annual 
(1830), The New Monthly Magazine (1841-43), and Hood's Magazine (1843). In 
1825 he had his first taste of success with Odes and Addresses to Great People 
(published anonymously). Credited as the inventor of the 'picture-pun', he 
continued to write amusing verse including Whims and Oddities (1826). The Song 
of the Shirt (1848) is perhaps the most famous of his serious poems which 
covered various macabre subjects including drowning, murder and suicide.

{\b Featured Works}.

'Ruth', 'The Time of Roses', 'I Remember, I Remember', 'The Bridge of Sighs', 
'To a False Friend', 'Song for Music', 'The Song of the Shirt', 'The Death 
Bed', 'Faithless Nelly Gray', 'A First Attempt in Rhyme', 'Domestic Didactics 
by an Old Servant'.

{\b General Comment}.

Thomas Hood was born in London, the son of a  Scottish bookseller. At the age 
of thirteen he began work in a merchant's counting house in the City, but was 
sent to relations in Dundee in 1815 because of his father's ill health. His 
literary career began with contributions to local newspapers and journals and 
in 1818 he returned to London to live with his uncle, an engraver. After a 
period during which he worked largely for himself he was appointed as 
sub-editor for the London Magazine. Here he rubbed shoulders with many of the 
leading literary figures of the day, including Thomas De Quincey, Hazlitt and 
Charles Lamb.

In 1825 he married the sister of  John Hamilton Reynolds. Hood's 
brother-in-law was to play an important role in his literary life, encouraging 
the young writer to focus his poetic eye. Although his initial efforts were 
unrewarded (these included  'Lycus the Centaur' and 'Ode to Autumn' which 
failed to attract notice when published in the London Magazine in 1823), he 
achieved some notoriety with Odes and Addresses in 1825.

His satirical and comic verse earned him the reputation of a master of puns, 
or 'picture-puns' as they came to be known. His work was hailed as the 
poetical equivalent to the satirical engravings of  William Hogarth, although 
perhaps lacking somewhat in bite.

He moved to Winchmore Hill in 1829 where he began the Comic Annuals which were 
produced yearly from 1830 to 1839.

In 1835, following financial difficulties, he moved to Ostend, Belgium. 
Suffering from tuberculosis, he returned to England in 1840 and, four years 
later, started Hood's Monthly. He wrote many serious poems in later life 
including 'The Death-bed'.

His remaining works (mostly poetry, and some comic novels) were published 
after his death by his son, Tom.