Samuel Boyse

Samuel Boyse (1708? – May 1749) was an Irish poet and writer who worked for Sir Robert Walpole and whose religious verses in particular were prized and reprinted in his time.

Life Born in Dublin, Boyse was the son of Joseph Boyse, a Presbyterian minister. He studied in Dublin, then Glasgow University; he had no profession other than writer, a career which took him to Edinburgh and London. He married at the age of 20.

Boyse "had many brilliant opportunities for advancement, all of which he wasted by almost inexplicable recklessness", according to William Lloyd Phelps. "Debts at length drove him from Edinburgh. He often had to beg for the smallest coins, and wrote verses in bed to obtain money for clothes and food.".

His religious verse was valued, and his poetry was collected and reprinted. He died of consumption, although the circumstances of his death have been disputed. 1740: The Character and Speech of Cosroes the Mede: an Improvement of the Squire's Tale of Chaucer., Gentleman's Magazine No. 10 (August) pp 404–5 1741: With others, The Canterbury Tales of Chaucer, Modernis'd by Several Hands., three volumes, edited by George Ogle, including Boyse's Cambuscan, or the Squire's Tale 1741: The Vision of Patience, an Allegorical Poem., published in A Select Collection of Poems: with Notes, biographical and historical: and a complete Poetical Index. 8 Volumes, edited by John Nichols 1743: Albion's Triumph. An Ode, occasioned by the happy Success of His Majesty's Arms on the Maine. In the Stanza of Spencer., modelled on Matthew Prior's Ode to the Queen 1706; London: J. Robinson, 8 pages; five stanzas of the poem were also published this year in Gentleman's Magazine No. 13 (July) p 358 1743: The Praise of Peace: A Poem in Three Cantos from the Dutch of Mr. Van Haren 1747: An Historical Review of the Transactions of Europe, two volumes 1749: Translation, A Demonstration of the Existence of God 1750: Translation, The Tablature of Cebes 1753: The New Pantheon: or the Fabulous History of the Heathen Gods 1757: Poetical Works (later editions 1773, 1785)