author
John Spateman
1697–1749
An eighteenth-century poet remembered for two blank-verse works published in London in 1745, one on war and one on the life of Jesus. His surviving poems suggest a writer drawn to large moral subjects and serious reflection.
1 Audiobook
War : A poem in blank verse
by John Spateman
About the author
Very little biographical information about this author could be confirmed beyond the basic dates usually given for him, 1697–1749, and his authorship of the poems War. A poem in blank verse and Jesus. A poem. In blank verse.
The surviving record points to a London-published writer active in the mid-1740s. Both known works appeared in 1745, and both use blank verse, suggesting a preference for long, meditative poetic form rather than lighter or more ornamental styles.
Because reliable personal details are scarce, it is safest to remember him through the work itself: a poet interested in weighty themes, moral argument, and the human meaning of conflict and faith.