James Thomson

James Thomson was a Scottish poet and playwright born in 1700, best known for his masterpiece 'The Seasons,' a long blank verse poem published in parts from 1726 to 1730 that foreshadowed Romanticism and celebrated Newtonian science and British expansion. Educated in Scotland, he moved to London in 1725, where he gained fame and financial independence through his poetry, including 'The Castle of Indolence' and the lyrics to 'Rule, Britannia.' He died in 1748 at age 47 in Richmond, England.