Matthew Green

Who was Matthew Green?

Matthew Green was a British poet born of Nonconformist parents. For many years he held a post in the custom house. The few anecdotes that have been preserved show him to have been as witty as his poems would lead one to expect: on one occasion, when the government was about to cut off funds that paid for milk for the custom house cats, Green submitted a petition in their name, winning a reprieve. He died unmarried at his lodging in Nag's Head Court, Gracechurch Street, London in 1737.

His Grotto, a poem on Queen Caroline's grotto at Richmond was printed in 1732; and his chief poem, The Spleen, in 1737 with a preface by his friend Richard Glover. These and some other short poems were printed in Robert Dodsley's collection, and subsequently in various editions of the British poets. They were edited in 1796 with a preface by John Aikin and in 1854 by Robert Aris Willmott with the poems of Thomas Gray and others. The Spleen, which was not originally intended for publication, is an epistle to Cuthbert Jackson, advocating cheerfulness, exercise and a quiet content as remedies. It is full of witty sayings.