Edmund John Armstrong facts for kids

Edmund John Armstrong (born 1841, died 1865) was an Irish poet. He wrote poems in English and also in Neo-Latin, which is a special kind of Latin used after the Middle Ages.

Life Story

Early Life and Passions

Edmund John Armstrong was born in Dublin, Ireland, on July 23, 1841. As a boy, he was known for being adventurous and having a fun-loving spirit. He loved music and books very much. He often went on long walks in the mountains near Dublin and Wicklow. These trips gave him many ideas for his poems. When he was about 17 or 18, he started to have some doubts about his religious beliefs. He also went through a tough time emotionally, which made this period difficult for him.

College and Illness

In 1859, Edmund started studying at Trinity College, Dublin. He was very good at writing poems in Greek and Latin. But in the spring of 1860, he worked too hard and became very ill with a lung problem. After getting better during the summer in Wicklow, he started to feel more connected to his Christian beliefs again.

Travels and Recovery

He spent the winter of 1860–61 in Jersey, an island off the coast of France. This was a happy and productive time for him. He saw many new things and thought deeply about life. While there, he started writing letters about religion with a friend he hadn't met yet, G. A. Chadwick. After a nice visit to Brittany, he left Jersey in mid-1861 and spent the warmer months in Ireland. When winter came, he went back to Jersey, this time with his younger brother, G. F. Armstrong. His brother later became a professor of English literature.

In April 1862, the brothers traveled to Normandy in France, then visited Paris. They returned to Jersey one last time before leaving for good. Edmund had recovered enough to work as a tutor in northern Ireland. During his summer break in 1862, he walked a lot in the Wicklow mountains. He also worked on his poems "The Dargle" and "Glendalough."

Final Years

In October 1862, Edmund continued his college studies, hoping to become a clergyman. In April 1863, he gave a speech about the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley to a student group. In this speech, he talked about how his earlier anti-religious ideas had changed. In May of the same year, he quickly wrote his longest poem, "The Prisoner of Mount Saint Michael." This was a romantic story about passion and crime. The places and details in the poem came from his travels in France. After this, he wrote "Ovoca," a gentle poem that was part story and part play.

In October 1863, he lived at Trinity College, Dublin. He became well-known for his speeches and essays. He was even chosen as the president of the Undergraduate Philosophical Society. In October 1864, he gave his opening speech, "On Essayists and Essay-writing." But in the winter, his health got worse. He moved to Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), where he died on February 24, 1865, after several weeks of illness. He was buried in Monkstown, County Dublin.

His Writings

After Edmund's death, his friends and college helped publish a book of his poems in 1865. This book, called Poems by the late Edmund J. Armstrong, included his two longer poems and many shorter ones. These poems showed his strong imagination and skill with words. A short story about his life by Mr. Chadwick was included at the beginning.

In 1877, his brother, G. F. Armstrong, published a new edition of his poems with many more pieces. At the same time, his brother also released a book of Edmund's prose writings. This book, Essays and Sketches by Edmund J. Armstrong, included essays on famous writers like Coleridge, Shelley, Goethe's Mephistopheles, and E. A. Poe. It also had essays about writing essays. A book called Life and Letters of Edmund J. Armstrong, also edited by his brother, included a picture of him. An article about Edmund Armstrong was written by Sir Henry Taylor in the Edinburgh Review in July 1878.