Matthew Prior

Home > People > Literature and the Arts > English Literature, 1500 to 1799: Biographies

Prior, Matthew (1664–1721), joined with Charles Montagu (later earl of Halifax) in The Hind and the Panther Transvers'd to the Story of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse (1687, see Town Mouse and Country Mouse), a satire on Dryden's The Hind and the Panther. He was appointed secretary to the ambassador at The Hague and employed in the negotiations for the treaty of Ryswick. He joined the Tories and in 1711 was sent to Paris as a secret agent at the time of the peace negotiations, the subsequent treaty of Utrecht (1713) being popularly known as ‘Matt's Peace’. He was recalled on Queen Anne's death and imprisoned for over a year. A folio edition of his poems was brought out in 1718 after his release. Prior is best remembered for his brilliant occasional verses, epigrams, and familiar pieces (‘My noble, lovely, little Peggy’ and ‘Jinny and Just’, for example, in which he combines lightness of touch with mock seriousness), but also wrote longer works in various styles. Carmen Seculare (1700) is an ode celebrating the arrival of William III; ‘Alma; or the Progress of the Mind’ (1718) is a Hudibrastic dialogue ridiculing various systems of philosophy. ‘Hans Carvel’ (1701) and ‘The Ladle’ (1718) are narratives ending with coarse jests, whereas ‘Henry and Emma’ (1709) is a sentimental burlesque of an old ballad ‘The Nut-Brown Maid’.

Matthew Prior 1664–1721, English poet and diplomat, b. Wimborne, Dorset. With his appointment as secretary to the embassy at The Hague during the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Ryswick (1697), Prior began a long diplomatic career. During Anne's reign he joined the Tories (1711) and helped, as special envoy, to conclude the Peace of Utrecht. With the accession of George I, Prior was ruined politically and was imprisoned by the Whigs for two years (1715–16). As a poet he is best remembered for his light verse and raillery. With Charles Montagu, he wrote a burlesque of Dryden's The Hind and the Panther called The Country Mouse and the City Mouse (1687). He is also known for two long satiric poems, Alma and Solomon (both 1718). He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Bibliography: See his complete works (ed. by H. B. Wright and M. K. Spears, 1959); biography by C. K. Eves (1939, repr. 1972).