Thomas Parnell

Born in Dublin in 1679, Thomas Parnell studied at Trinity College and went on to become an Anglican clergyman. He served in the church in Ireland, including as Archdeacon of Clogher and later rector of Finglas, while also building a reputation in literary circles.

Parnell was closely connected with some of the leading writers of his time, including Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, and the circle often linked with the Scriblerus Club. His poetry was valued for its smooth style, wit, and moral reflection, and he became known in particular for works such as A Night-Piece on Death and The Hermit.

He died in 1718 at Chester, England. Although his life was relatively short, his poems remained well known after his death, and later readers saw him as an important bridge between the formal elegance of early eighteenth-century verse and a more inward, emotional strain in English poetry.