Keble, John [key], 1792–1866, English clergyman and poet. His career (1807–11) at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, was one of unusual distinction. Made fellow of Oriel College in 1811 and ordained in 1816, he became tutor and examiner, but resigned in 1823 to become his father's curate. He based the doctrine and devotion of his important poetical work The Christian Year (1827) on the Book of Common Prayer. It sold 150 editions in 50 years and led to a professorship of poetry at Oxford (1831–41). Alarmed at the suppression of 10 bishoprics in Ireland, Keble preached (1833) a sermon that he called “National Apostasy.” J. H. Newman later called this the beginning of the Oxford movement. From 1836 he held the living of Hursley, Hampshire. His works include an edition of Richard Hooker's works (1836), a life of Bishop Wilson (1863), the Oxford Psalter (1839) and Lyra Innocentium: Thoughts in Verse on Children (1846). Among his poems are the well-known hymns Red o'er the Forest, New Every Morning Is Thy Love, and Sun of My Soul.
See biographies by J. T. Coleridge (1869) and W. Lock (1892); study by G. Battiscombe (1964).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: English Literature, 19th cent.: Biographies
