SOURCE: Östman, Hans. “The Silent Years of George Crabbe.” Moderna Språk LXVIII, no. 3 (1974): 233-44.

In the essay that follows, Östman examines Crabbe's literary activities between 1785 and 1807, a period during which he did not publish, and looks at what he read, how it influenced him, and what he wrote.

George Crabbe's long and varied life presents the literary student with several problems. What, for example, is the significance of his almost silent period 1785-1807 and what is his debt to contemporary literature during these years? These questions are interesting since they may lead not only to a better understanding of the poet's own development but also to an insight into the way in which English literature was changing at the end of the 18th century.

Between The Newspaper and Poems of 1807 Crabbe did not publish any poetry at all. Therefore the reading public usually knew him only through...