Major Authors and Their Works of the Augustan Age- Here you will get a list of writers from the Augustan Age in English literature and their works. It is essential for those students who are willing to take participate in various competitive examinations, where English literature dominates the examination.
The eighteenth century in English literature is roughly called the Augustan Age. It is also called the Neo-classical Ages in English literature. It is further called the Age of Pope and the Age of Johnson.
The term ‘Augustan’ was first applied to the literature of the eighteenth century as a term of high praise. Those who used this term believe that the Age of Emperor Augustus was the golden age in Latin literature in the Roman Empire.
Major Authors and Their Works of the Augustan Age
The Greek and Latin poets, dramatists,s and critics of this age were believed to be the best models and ultimate standards of the literary test.
The English poets and critics of the eighteenth-century feld honored in being able to imitate these classical poets and critics.
Here are some of the important names of the authors
- Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
- Mathew Prior (1664-1721)
- John Gay (1685-1932)
- Edward Young (1683-1765)
- Robert Blair (1699-1746)
- Lady Winchilsea (1660-1784)
- Dr.Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
- Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774)
- Daniel Defoe (1661-1931)
- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
- Joseph Addison (1672-1719)
- Richard Steele (1672-1729)
- George Lillo (1693-1939)
- Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)
- Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
- Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
- Samuel Richardson (1689-1761)
- Henry Fielding (1707-1754)
- Laurence Sterne (1713-1768)
- Tobias Smollett (1721-1771)
- Horace Walpole (1717-1797)
- Clara Reeve (1729-1807)
- Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823)
- James Thomson (1700-1748)
- John Dyer (1700-1758)
- William Blake (1757-1827)
- George Crabbe (1754-1832)
- Bishop Percy (1729-1811)
- Thomas Chatterton (1754-1770)
- William Collins (1721-1759)
- James Macpherson (1736-1796)
- Thomas Gray (1716-1771)
- Robert Burns (1759-1796)
- Willliam Cowper (1731-1800)
- Christopher Smart (1722-1771)
The Augustan Age Summary
A notable feature of eighteenth-century literature is that it is predominantly intellectual, logical, and rational. It conspicuously lacks in emotion, imagination, and passion.
Therefore, eighteenth-century literature is rarely satirical. There is the supremacy of reason, logic, and good sense and suppression of passion and emotion. More emphasis is laid on the form that on the true spirit.
As such most of the eighteenth-century literature is either satirical or didactic. It is the main product of intelligence playing upon the surface of life.
The poetry of this age was one of arguments criticism and satire on politics and personalities. The satires were social political and even personal.
Another important feature of the poetry of this age is that it largely deals with town life rather than with rural life or nature.
In their search for decency, good sense, elegance, and mannerism the poets confined themselves to two life and aristocratic people.
Lastly, eighteenth-century poetry is almost entirely written in poetic diction and in closed Heroic couplets. The closed Heroic couplet best suited this poetic expression on account of its epigrammatic terseness and satirical suitability.
Major Writers and Their Works of the Augustan Age
1-Alexander Pope
- Pastorals
- An Essay on Criticism
- Windsor Forest
- The Rape of the Lock
- Dunciad
- Translation of Iliad and Odyssey
- The Lord Bathurst
- On the use of the Riches
- An Essay on Man
- Epistle to Dr.Arbuthnot
- Of the Knowledge and Characters of Men
- Of the Characters of Women
- The essiah
- Satires and Epistles of Horace Imitated
2- Matthew Prior
- Soloman on the Vanity of the World
- Alam: or the Progress of the Mind
- The Town and Country Mouse
3- John Gay
- Fables
- The Shepherd’s Week
- The Rural Sports
- Trivia
- The Beggar’s Opera
- The Streets of London
4- Edward Young
- Night Thoughts
5- Robert Blair
- The Grave
6- Lady Winchilsea
- The Spleen
- The Prodigy
- A Nocturnal Reverie
7- Dr. Samuel Johnson
- The Vanity of Human Wishes
- London
- The Lives of the Poets
- Preface to Shakespeare
- Dictionary of the English Language
- A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland
- The Rambler
- Raselas
- Prince of Abyssinia
- The Life of Savage
- The Adventurer
- The Idler
8- Oliver Goldsmith
- The Traveller
- The Deserted Village
- The Good-Natured Man
- She Stoops to Conquer
- The Citizen of the World
- The Vicar of Wakefield
- The Hermit
- Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog
9- Daniel Defoe
- Robinson Crusoe
- Mall Flanders
- Colonel Jack
- The Memories of a Cavalier
- Captain Singleton
- Journal of the Plague Year
- Roxana
10- Jonathan Swift
- The Battle of the Books
- A Tale of a Tub
- Gulliver’s Travels
- Journal to Stella
- The Drapier’s Letters
- Cadence and Vanessa
11-Joseph Addison
- The Spectator
- The Campaign
- Public Credit
- The Vision of Mirza
- Cato
- Rosamond
- The DRUMMER
12-Richard Steele
- The Tatler
- The Guardian
- The Funeral
- The Lying Lover
- The Tender Husband
- The Conscious Lover
13-George Lillo
- London Merchant
- Fatal Curiosity
14- Edward Gibbon
- Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
15- Edmund Burke
- Speeches on American Taxation
- On Conciliation with America
- Reflection on the French Revolution
- Letter to a Nobel Lord
- Letters on a Regicide Peace
16- Thomas Paine
- Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful
17- Samuel Richardson
- Pamela or Virtue Rewarded
- Clarissa or The Adventures of a Young Lady Clarissa Harlowe
- Sir Charles Grandison
18- Henry Fielding
- The Adventures of Joseph Andrews
- Tom Jones
- Amelia
- Jonathan Wild the Great
- A Journey from this World to the Next
- Voyage to Lisbon
19- Laurence Stern
- Tristram Shandy
- A Sentimental Journey Through France and Itlay
20- Tobias Smollett
- The Adventure os Roderick Random
- Peregrine Pickle
- Humphry Clinker
21- Horace Walpole
- Castle of Otranto
22- Clara Reeve
- Old English Baron
23- Ann Radcliffe
- The romance of the Forest
- The Mysteries of Udolpho
- The Italian
24-James Thomson
- Seasons
25- John Dyer
- George Hill
26- William Blake
- Poetical Sketches
- Songs of Innocence
- Songs of Experience
27- George Crabbe
- The Village
- The Parish Register
- The Borough
- Tales in Verse
- Tales of the Hall
28- Bishop Percy
- Reliques of Ancient English Poetry
29- Thomas Chatterton
- Poems
30- William Collins
- Odeon the Popular Superstitions of the Highlands of Scotland
- Ode to Evening
- Ode to Simplicity
31-James Macpherson
- Fragments of Ancient Poetry Translated From Gaelic
- Ossian Poems
32-Thomas Gray
- Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
- On a Distance Prospect of Eton College
- On the Death of a Favourite Cat
- The Bard
- The Progress of Poesy
- The Fatal Sisters
- The Descent of Odin
33- Robert Burns
- The Cotton’s Saturday Night
34- William Cowper
- The Task
35- Christopher Smart
- Songs of David
