John Langhorne (poet)

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John Langhorne (March 1735–April 1, 1779), poet, son of a clergyman, was born at Kirkby Stephen; having taken orders, he was for two years a curate in London, and from 1776 Rector of Blagdon, Somerset, and Prebendary of Wells.

He is chiefly remembered as being the translator, jointly with his brother, Rev. William Langhorne, of Plutarch's Lives, but in his day he had some reputation as a poet, his chief work in poetry being Studley Park and Fables of Flora. In his Country Justice (1774–77) he dimly foreshadows George Crabbe, as in his descriptive poems he dimly foreshadows William Wordsworth. He was twice married, and both of his wives died in giving birth to a first child.

This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.