Charles Lamb

Charles Lamb

(1775-1855)

(A poem about the life of the English writer Charles Lamb, written in 1st person)

Subject: 19th Century Literature (with professor Susana Bustos)

by Omar G. P.

“In literature, I was a specialist

some have called me a lovable man

a poet, writer and an essayist

my name was just Charles Lamb

The time was the eighteen century

the year was the seventy five

when I began to tell my story

of what I did when I was alive

My parents had seven children

not uncommon at that time

but only three of them,

including me were able to survive

My father was a lawyer

an assistant in a court

I grew up in Inner Temple

the place where he then worked

My family was from London

and I was the youngest child

I had an eldest brother

and a sister: Mary Lamb

From a very early age

she taught me how to read

I read every single page

and to books, I then took heed

In my study, I wasn’t lonely

with my schoolmistress and my aunt

with my granny, very lovely

forget their fondness, I just can’t

Later on, I would attend

what was a charity school

Greek and Latin, I would learn

but my teacher was not cool

I had a stuttering in my speech

an impediment to speak as I wished

I was told I couldn’t preach

so I started writing and recognition reached

I left school at the age of fourteen

I started working, ignoring my fears

I got a job in the East India Company, being a teen 

where I got pension after twenty five years

But it was Mary, my dear sister

who my best company would became

words of Shakespeare we would whisper

and for that, we would gain fame

There were periods of craziness

that I had one, I do not hide

but Mary got an attack of madness

in which she committed matricide

It was in a tragic strife

mom was yelling very hard

Mary took the kitchen knife

and stabbed her to the heart

I ran into the house

took the edge out of her hand

had to take her to a madhouse

which for months was her remand

The jury admitted insanity

and I chose to bring her with me;

they gave me her custody

under my responsibility,

I presided a club of study

to which literature was the trend

William Wordsworth was my buddy

And Samuel Coleridge, my friend

Though I was not a churchman

I did believed in God

in my poems and letters you can scan

the beliefs and views I got

Though I did fell in love,

ladies let me alone;

get married, I could not

I stayed with Mary at home

A graze in face led to a blister

A skin infection got inside me

I died before my sister

she’s buried now beside me

Wordsworth has composed,

a poem on my behalf

My path has been disclosed

in the words of my epitaph”

Charles Lamb Major works:

Short Stories:

• “Rosamund Gray” (1792)

Essays and prose:

• “Essays of Elia (1823)

Poems:

• “A Vision of Repentance”
• “Composed at Midnight”
• “Charity”
• “David”,
• “Living Without God In The World”,
• “On The Lord's Prayer”
• “Sonnet To A Friend" ,
• “The Old Familiar Faces”,
• “The Young Catechist”,
• “Written a twelvemonth after the Events”,
• “Written on Christmas Day”

Books (co-authored with Mary Lamb):

• “Tales from Shakespeare” (1807)

Compilations:

• “The Works of Charles Lamb: Volumes 1-2” (1818)
• “The letters of Charles Lamb, with a sketch of his life. The poetical works” (1838)
• “Works of Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb” (2010)

Biographical works:

• Felicity James (2008). "Charles Lamb, Coleridge and Wordsworth"

Further reading: 

• Charles Lamb, “The Poetry Foundation”
  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/charles-lamb
• Wright, Dudley (1923) "The Religious Opinions of Charles Lamb.," The Open Court: Vol. 1923: Iss. 11, Article 1. Available at http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3709&context=ocj
• Wikisource. Lamb, Charles,” in Dictionary of National Biography, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., (1885–1900) in 63 vols. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lamb,_Charles_(DNB00)