Horace Smith (poet)

For other people named Horace Smith, see Horace Smith (disambiguation).
For the American politician, see Horatio N. Smith.
Horace Smith
Portrait of Horace Smith by an unknown artist watercolour, circa 1840
Portrait of Horace Smith by an unknown artist watercolour, circa 1840
Born(1779-12-31)31 December 1779
London
Died12 July 1849(1849-07-12) (aged 69)
Tunbridge Wells
OccupationPoet, novelist
Literary movementRomanticism

Horace (born Horatio) Smith (31 December 1779 – 12 July 1849) was an English poet and novelist. In 1818, he participated in a sonnet-writing competition with Percy Bysshe Shelley. It was of Smith that Shelley said: "Is it not odd that the only truly generous person I ever knew who had money enough to be generous with should be a stockbroker? He writes poetry and pastoral dramas and yet knows how to make money, and does make it, and is still generous."[1]

  1. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Smith, James and Horace". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 264.