WORDS FROM A GREAT MIND

Edward Young

Poet, dramatist & clergyman

Born: 3 July 1683
Died: 5 April 1765
Lived in: Hampshire, Oxford, London & Welwyn

Edward Young was an English poet, dramatist, and clergyman best remembered for Night Thoughts. Written in blank verse, the poem reflects on time, grief, friendship, ambition, mortality, and the human habit of postponing life.

A LESSER-KNOWN DETAIL

William Blake was commissioned to illustrate Night Thoughts and produced 537 watercolour designs. Only a small selection was engraved and published during Blake’s lifetime.

Words by Edward Young

“Be wise to-day; ’tis madness to defer.”

Edward Young ↗

“Procrastination is the thief of time.”

Edward Young ↗

“All men think all men mortal, but themselves.”

Edward Young ↗