Show english poet laureates long lived but prosy poet laureates laar cates of england have been a lung lived race doctor bridges he be was a physician too was eighty five when he be passed on the ages of life ills three immediate predecessors in the alfred austin Tenny tennyson soh and AVo wordsworth rasworth averaged eighty among the distinguished inui eates of an carlier period ben jonson lived to be sixty thre hire and dryden to be sixty nine but the record among laureates Is held by the actor manager colley clabber who died in 1707 1757 at the age of eighty seven As a poet colley bibber was terrible and king edward had no great ion of the poetry of alfred austin ausel n poet laureate ut at the time lie he ascended the throne ile he was not alone in that opinion 1 I always thought that mr austins akstins Aus tins appointment was not a good one he be wrote to lord salisbury then prime minister but ns as long as he gets no pay it would I 1 think be best to renew the appointment in ills favor A few months later king edward sent to salisbury some verses and pointedly called ills attention to the trash which the poet laureate writes the letter is quoted in sir sidney lees life of edward |