Thomas Gordon Hake is remembered more for his associations with other writers than for his own creative work, though his poetry was admired by W. M. and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and other contemporary writers. He became a valued friend of the Rossettis, Theodore Watts-Dunton, and George Borrow.

Hake was born at Leeds on 10 March 1809. His father died when Hake was three. At the age of seven he was admitted to Christ's Hospital in London, a school for poor children. He studied medicine in London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow and graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1831. While engaged in these studies, Hake developed an interest in poetry; a collection of his poems entitled Poetic Lucubrations: Containing The Misanthrope and Other Effusions was published in 1828. The volume achieved no notice, and no more of Hake's poetry was published for some time.

During 1831-1832, Hake traveled on the Continent to improve...