Focusing attention exclusively on his most distinctive work, Night-Thoughts, modern readers frequently overlook much of Edward Young’s achievement. By the time he began writing Night-Thoughts in the 1740’s, Young had been a successful poet for almost thirty years. Although there are common thematic concerns present in many of Young’s works, his poetry is most notable for its diversity.

A Poem on the Last Day

One of Young’s first published works, A Poem on the Last Day celebrates the Peace of Utrecht (1713), which ended the War of the Spanish Succession. Rather than offering a simple patriotic poem, Young uses the occasion of peace to explore the impermanence of all worldly things. The three-book poem, written with epic tone and in heroic couplets, begins with a survey of the natural world. Although nature seems to assert God’s continual presence—“How great, how firm, how sacred, all appears!” —the world remains mutable and full of sin. Individuals, Young argues, should never forget the judgment of the last day. Recognizing that true greatness cannot be achieved during life, Young instructs his reader to tread on “virtues path” and to inherit divine knowledge and eternal salvation after death: “Thou, minor, canst not guess thy vast estate,/ What stores, on foreign coasts, thy landing wait.”

The Force of Religion

A narrative poem written in heroic couplets, The Force of Religion recalls Lady Jane Grey’s final hours before being executed by Mary Tudor. Celebrating the spiritual triumph of Protestantism over Catholicism, the poem addresses England’s fear of Jacobism during the final days of Queen Anne’s reign. Young’s purpose, however, exceeds the immediate political crises of his time. The Force of Religion, like A Poem on the Last Day and much of Young’s later poetry, ultimately explores the conflict between the earthly and the eternal.

Love of Fame, the Universal Passion

Satire, the most characteristic form of eighteenth century literature, can be divided into two forms: Horatian and Juvenalian. In the preface to Love of Fame, the Universal Passion, Young places his work within the good-natured Horatian tradition:laughing satire bids the fairest for success. . . . This kind of satire only has any delicacy in it. . . . Horace is the best master: he appears in good humour while he censures.

In contrast to harsh, vituperative Juvenalian satirists like Swift, Young assumes that human folly can be corrected through humor. Like Addison and Richard Steele, who also wrote Horatian satire, Young structures his work around fictional characters who exemplify the specific follies. Although Young’s use of character is unique in verse satire, he follows the traditions of his age by writing in heroic couplets and including elements of the mock epic.

For modern readers, the most interesting—and perhaps infuriating—satires are those that address women. Like other eighteenth century writers, Young calls for women to accept a subordinate role and warns them against worldly and intellectual ambition. For Young, “Women were made to give our [male] eyes delight,” and they should “Beware the fever of the mind!” At times Young’s satire loses its Horatian tone and becomes distinctly Juvenalian as he oscillates between celebrating feminine virtue and ridiculing feminine vice.

Young’s satire ends with an acknowledgment that the love of fame is, if rightly applied, a divine gift that can lead individuals, such as George II, Queen Caroline, and Robert Walpole, to great and benevolent accomplishments.

Night-Thoughts

Critics have argued that Night-Thoughts originated as a response to Pope’s An Essay on Man (1733-1734), which urges the reader to focus attention on the earthly and knowable. Hoping to show his reader the significance of the...