Editing Thomas Warton (section)

==Poetry, criticism and historical works==
In a poem written in 1745 he shows the delight in Gothic churches and ruined castles which inspired much of his subsequent work in romantic revival. Most of Warton's poetry was written before the age of twenty-three, when he took his [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] degree.<ref name="EB1911"/>
In 1749, he penned ''The Triumph of Isis'', a poem in praise of Oxford and the many students who had received their education there. Published anonymously, ''The Triumph of Isis'' rebutted [[William Mason (poet)|William Mason's]] Isis, an Elegy published the previous year, which was anything but flattering to Oxford.<ref name="life"/>

Following the success of ''The Triumph of Isis'', Warton wrote ''Newmarket, a Satire'', which was followed by a collection of verses. His complete poetical works were included in an anthology that was published in 1853.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray, Thomas Parnell, William Collins, Matthew Green, and Thomas Warton |date=1853 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |editor-last=Willmott|editor-first=Robert Aris | editor-link=Robert Aris Willmott}}</ref>

Although he continued to write poetry, Warton's main energies were turned to poetical reading and criticism.<ref name="EB1911"/> His first major academic work was ''Observations on the [[The Faerie Queene|Faerie Queene]] of [[Edmund Spenser|Spenser]]'', published in 1754. He is, however, best known for the three-volume ''[[The History of English Poetry]]'' (1774–81), which covered the poetry of the 11th through the 16th centuries. Although the work was criticised for its many inaccuracies, it is nonetheless considered a highly important and influential historical tome.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

In 1782, he wrote ''The History and Antiquities of Kiddington'', an early example of [[English local history]].<ref>Warton, T. ''The History and Antiquities of Kiddington''. 3rd edition (1815) in [https://books.google.com/books?id=oFdbAAAAQAAJ Google Books]. Accessed 9 December 2022.</ref>