C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
William Hayley (1745–1820)
Hayley, William. An English poet; born at Chichester, Oct. 29, 1745; died at Felpham, Nov. 12, 1820. He was the biographer of Cowper, who received his pension through Hayley’s influence with Pitt. ‘Essay on History’ appeared in 1780; ‘The Triumphs of Temper’ in 1781; an ‘Essay on Epic Poetry’ in 1782; an ‘Essay on Old Maids’ in 1785; ‘Essays on Sculpture’ in 1800; and ‘The Triumph of Music’ in 1804. He wrote also a ‘Life of Milton’ (1796). Cowper and Gibbon commended his ‘Essay on Epic Poetry.’