Richard Hengist Horne

Richard Hengist Horne (born Richard Henry Horne) (31 December 1802 – 13 March 1884) was an English poet and critic most famous for his poem .

Horne was born at Edmonton, London, son of James Horne, a quarter-master in the 61st Regiment. The family moved to Guernsey, where James was stationed, until James' death on 16 April 1810. Horne was raised at the home of his rich paternal grandmother and sent to a school at Edmonton and then to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, as he was intended for the army. Horne appears to have had as little sense of discipline as Adam Lindsay Gordon showed at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and like him was asked to leave. It appears that he caricatured the headmaster, and took part in a rebellion. He began writing while still in his teens, but he was intended for the army, and entered at Sandhurst, but receiving no commission, he left his country and in 1825 went as a midshipman in the Libertad to fight for Mexican independence, was taken prisoner and joined the Mexican navy. He served in the war against Spain, travelled in the United States and Canada, returned to England in 1827, and took up literature as a profession.

Horne became a journalist, and from 1836 to 1837 edited the Monthly Repository. In 1837 he published two tragedies, Cosmo de' Medici and The Death of Marlowe. Another drama in blank verse, Gregory VII, appeared in 1840, and in 1841 a History of Napoleon in prose.

About the end of 1840 Horne was given employment as a sub-commissioner in connection with the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Children's Employment which particularly focused the employment of children in mines and manufactures. This commission finished its labours at the beginning of 1843, and in the same year Horne published his epic poem, Orion, which appeared in 1843. It was published originally at the price of one farthing, was widely read; three editions were published at that price, and three more at increased prices before the end of the year. In the next year he set forth a volume of critical essays called A New Spirit of the Age, in which he was assisted by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, with whom, from 1839 to her marriage in 1845, he conducted a voluminous correspondence. In 1847 Horne married Catherine Foggo (daughter of David Foggo) but they were soon separated.

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